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Hillingdon residents have raised concerns about a proposal to increase the threshold for signatures needed for local petitions to have a hearing at the council.
Currently, a petition requires just 20 signatures for local and planning issues, and 100 for borough-wide issues to be heard in person at a Petition Hearing with the Cabinet Member concerned. The proposed changes include:
Council documents say the proposal “reflects the fact that petitions are now easier to create, circulate and support. It also means Hillingdon remains relatively accessible compared with many other boroughs".
Any petition with fewer than 50 signatures on "any issue" will be "treated as a service request or planning representation and will be responded to by the relevant service". The council is set to debate the proposals at Full Council on Thursday, July 9.
Jonathan Haynes was central to the Back the Beck campaign to prevent the Beck Theatre in Hayes from closing. He believes the proposed changes are undemocratic.
He added: "I’ve signed this petition because democracy isn’t just about voting every four years, it is about ensuring decisions are properly scrutinised and we can hold our elected councillors to account. I believe these proposals weaken those safeguards and make local government in Hillingdon less democratic."
On removing the automatic hearings as a default response, council documents say that in their place will be a written response “following a period of intelligent intervention” by services who are best placed to understand the specific nature of the request.
The council says: “Removing the requirement for a Cabinet Member hearing will also reduce the amount of officer and member time involved in holding such hearings, which can often be at a time inconvenient to the petitioners."
Andrea Scrivens fought to save the Rural Activities Garden Centre (RAGC) from council closure in 2025. This campaign involved several petitions and hearings whereby Cabinet Members were directly accountable to the electorate.
She told the LDRS: “I signed the petition because it feels to me as if the council is eroding residents' democratic rights. What good reason could they possibly have for taking this step? Particularly when they are also seeking to reduce scrutiny of decision-making.”
Labour Councillor Sital Punja said: "The new Leader of Hillingdon Council, Cllr Steve Tuckwell, promised a more resident-focused council. Instead, one of his first acts as leader is to make it harder for residents to raise concerns or be heard. Increasing the threshold for borough-wide petitions from 100 to 500 signatures is a huge step backwards for local democracy.
"Worse still, even if residents' petitions reach this higher target, there's no guarantee that their petition will even be heard by Cabinet. Having supported several community-led petitions over the past few years, I have seen the value in listening to residents, enabling them to have their voices heard.
"They bring valuable insight that must be at the heart of decision-making, not as far away as possible. It is already clear that the Conservative administration is building new barriers instead of removing them for better public engagement."
Hillingdon Council declined to comment because "a full response on this will be provided at council next Thursday, and we can't pre-empt the decision".
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