Have Your Say

Submissions are:

• Responses to a formal consultation where a decision will be made by Council or a Committee of Council.
• Usually, written statements but they can also be delivered by speaking to the Council or the relevant Committee in person.
• Subject to the Local Government Act 2002.
• Public information that is shared on our website.

Submissions need to include:

• Your full name, postal address postcode and email address (only your name and feedback will be shared on our website).
  Council will only post your full name and email address unless otherwise required by legislation (for example, Marlborough Environment Plan submissions under the Resource Management Act 1991).
• An organisations name and your role if you are submitting on behalf of a group or organisations.
• Where public hearings are available, please advise on your submission whether you want to speak.

As required by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, if requested we will share submissions, including contact details provided in your submission.

Long Term Plan and Annual Plan submissions will be made available to the public as they are received.

Feedback is gathered informally through a range of methods such as surveys, direct contact with individuals or groups, or on social media.

Community feedback helps to develop a project that does not require a decision to be made by Council or a Committee of Council.

If you want to talk to the Council or a Committee of Council about an issue or idea, you can request to present at a meeting.

Oral submissions enable a person or organisation to make a presentation to a meeting of the Council or a Committee of Council on a matter covered in a report on the agenda for the meeting.

The Council may have public forum sessions at the start of meetings, where speakers can speak for up to five minutes about a matter relevant to Council.

To make a request to speak at a meeting, please contact us and ask to speak to:

• A Committee Advisor for a Council Committee
• The Council Secretary for Council.

Requests to speak at a meeting will need to be approved by the Chair of the meeting. Council staff will provide you with more information on meeting protocol, speaking times and presentation equipment.

To allow enough time for questions we advise that you keep your presentation brief. Please let us know if you would like us to arrange a translator to help you speak at a meeting or hearing.

Please note that the Marlborough District Council meetings are video recorded and kept on our website following the meeting.

Go to the Council meetings page

Any person or organisation can present a petition to the Council or a Council Committee.

A petition must contain at least 20 signatures and consist of fewer than 150 words (not including signatories).

Petitions must be received at least five working days before the date of the meeting at which they will be presented. Contact us to present your petition.

Go to the contact us page for contact information

A petitioner can present a petition to a meeting and speak for up to five minutes about the petition. A Councillor may present a petition on behalf of the petitioners.

Petitions and the information on them will form part of the public record of a meeting and may be published on the Council website.

Open

All of the consultation information is made available on our websites so people can decide whether they want to provide feedback. Key stakeholders Council identifies may be emailed to advise them that the consultation is open, and residents might receive notice in the post-box or on the Council’s website for local consultations.

This step can take between two to eight weeks.

Analysis

Consultation has closed and all feedback is now being analysed for key themes. A report is written that will be given to the elected members to help them make their decision.

The length of time to prepare the report depends on the type of consultation and the volume of feedback received.

Report

The Council staff report makes a recommendation to the deciding body. The deciding body can be the full Council or a Committee of the Council.

Hearing

In some cases, a hearing may be held if Council considers it necessary for consultation.

As a submitter, you will be asked if you would like to attend a hearing. This means you may present a summary of your submission to a hearings panel who may ask you questions about your submission.

Following hearing, the panel will consider what they have heard from submitters and staff before making a recommendation to the full Council, who will make the final decision.

Decision

A report is presented to the full Council for a final decision.

The Council may accept the recommendations, or amendments to the recommendations might be made. A decision is called a 'resolution' which staff must then action. There can be several resolutions attached to any one decision.

The decision will be available on the Council’s website, or in some cases the submitters will be contacted with the final decision.