Procedure at meetings - sections 21 to 30

3.21 Public question and submission time

Questions and submissions may be submitted by the public at any Council meeting, and responded to or answered by Council, in accordance with Council’s Public Question Time Policy.

3.22 Petitions and joint letters

3.22.1	Petitions or joint letters to Council may be presented to Council by a Councillor or a member of the public.
3.22.2	It is incumbent on every Councillor presenting a petition or joint letter to acquaint themselves with the contents of that petition or joint letter, and to ascertain that it does not contain language disrespectful to Council.
3.22.3	Every Councillor presenting a petition or joint letter to Council must:
	3.22.3.1	write or otherwise record their name at the beginning of the petition or joint letter; and
	3.22.3.2	confine themselves to a statement of the persons from whom it comes, the number of signatories to it, the material matters expressed in it and the text of the request.
3.22.4	A petition or a joint letter:
	3.22.4.1	must not be in pencil;
	3.22.4.2	may be in any other legible and permanent written form including in an electronic form;
	3.22.4.3	must not be defamatory, indecent, abusive or objectionable in language or substance;
	3.22.4.4	must for the purpose of a response, contain the name and address of the person or organisation co-ordinating the petition or joint letter;
	3.22.4.5	must contain the name and address of each petitioner or signatory;
	3.22.4.6	must be signed by at least 12 people; and
	3.22.4.7	shall not relate to a matter outside Council’s powers and functions.
3.22.5	Every page of a petition or joint letter shall contain the whole of the petition or request.
3.22.6	Any signature appearing on a page which does not contain the whole of the petition or request shall not be considered by the Council.
3.22.7	Every page of a petition or joint letter shall be a single piece of paper and shall not be pasted, stapled, pinned or otherwise affixed to any other piece of paper.
3.22.8	The purpose of any petition shall be recorded in the minutes and shall be the subject of a written response.
3.22.9	The Council may pass a resolution:
	3.22.9.1	that a written report be prepared on the contents of the petition or joint letter for presentation to a meeting; and
	3.22.9.2	that the petition be referred for consideration in conjunction with an item on the agenda.
3.22.10	If a petition or joint letter relates to an operational matter, that petition or joint letter must be referred to the Chief Executive Officer for action and response.

3.23 Moving of motions or amendments

3.23.1	Motions and amendments must be:
	3.23.1.1	Within the powers and functions of the council;
	3.23.1.2	Related to an item of business on the agenda or to be considered at the meeting; and
	3.23.1.3	Clear, unambiguous and not defamatory or objectionable in content or nature.
3.23.2	The chairperson must refuse to accept a motion or amendment which conflicts with this rule 3.23.
3.23.3	Council must not consider similar agenda items En bloc. each agenda item must be considered individually and must have a mover and a seconder.
3.23.4	A councillor may move a recommendation in the same form as recommended by city officers or they may move an amended version of that motion in relation to the report being presented.

3.24 Introducing a motion or amendment

3.24.1	The procedure for moving any motion or amendments to motions at a council meeting is as follows:
	3.24.1.1	The mover must state the subject and nature of the motion or amendment and not speak to it;
	3.24.1.2	The motion or amendment must be seconded by a councillor other than the mover. If there is no seconder for a motion or amendment, the chairperson must declare the motion or amendment to have lapsed;
	3.24.1.3	An amendment may be moved or seconded by any councillor except the mover or seconder of the original motion;
	3.24.1.4	If the motion or amendment is moved and seconded the chairperson must ask whether the motion is opposed and/or whether any councillor wishes to speak to the motion;
	3.24.1.5	If no councillor indicates opposition or a desire to speak to the motion, the chairperson must put the motion to the vote;
	3.24.1.6	If a councillor indicates opposition or a desire to speak to the motion or amendment, then the chairperson must call on the mover to address the meeting;
	3.24.1.7	The chairperson must call upon the seconder of a motion to speak to the motion after the mover has spoken. The seconder of a motion may reserve their right to respond;
	3.24.1.8	The chairperson must call upon any other councillor who may wish to speak to the motion, after the mover and seconder of the motion have spoken to the motion;
	3.24.1.9	If, after the mover has addressed the meeting, the chairperson has invited other councillors to speak to the motion or amendment and no councillor speaks to the motion or amendment, the chairperson must put the motion or amendment to the vote.

3.25 Right of reply and debate of motion or amendment

3.25.1	If there has been any opposition to a motion, the mover of a motion has the right of reply to matters raised during the debate.
3.25.2	The mover of an amendment has no right to speak in reply.
3.25.3	Subject to any councillor exercising their right to ask any question concerning or arising out of a motion, the chairperson must put the motion to the vote immediately after the mover of the motion has spoken in reply.
3.25.4	Any councillor can debate an amendment irrespective of whether the councillor has spoken or proposes to speak to the original motion.
3.25.5	Debate on an amendment must be confined to the terms of the amendment.

3.26 Moving an amendment

3.26.1	Subject to this clause, a motion which has been moved and seconded may be amended by leaving out or adding words. Any added words must be relevant to the subject of the motion.
3.26.2	A motion to confirm a previous resolution of council cannot be amended.
3.26.3	An amendment must not be the negative of, or substantially contrary to, the motion.

3.27 How many amendments may be proposed

3.27.1	Any number of amendments may be proposed to a motion but only one (1) amendment may be accepted by the chairperson at any one (1) time.
3.27.2	No second or subsequent amendment, whether to the motion or an amendment of it, may be taken into consideration until the previous amendment has been dealt with.
3.27.3	Any one councillor cannot move more than one (1) amendment in succession.

3.28 An amendment once carried

3.28.1	If the amendment is carried, the amended motion then becomes the substantive motion before the meeting and can be further amended.
3.28.2	The mover of the original motion retains the right of reply to the substantive motion.

3.29 Priority of address and right to speak to motion

3.29.1	In the case of competition for the right to speak, the chairperson must decide the order in which the councillors concerned will be heard.
3.29.2	A councillor may speak once on a motion and once on an amendment, except for the mover of a motion who has the right to speak in reply to any opposition to the motion (but not a right to speak in reply to an amendment).

3.30 Foreshadowing motions

3.30.1	At any time during debate a councillor may foreshadow a motion to inform the meeting of their intention to move a motion at a later stage in the meeting. This does not extend to any special right to the foreshadowed motion.
3.30.2	A motion foreshadowed may be prefaced with a statement that in the event of a particular motion before the chairperson being resolved in a certain way, a councillor intends to move an alternative or additional motion.
3.30.3	The chief executive officer or a city officer authorised to take the meeting minutes is not expected to record foreshadowed motions in the minutes until the foreshadowed motion is formally moved.
3.30.4	A foreshadowed motion has no procedural standing and is merely a means of assisting the flow of a meeting.

Page last updated: Monday, 30th March 2026

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