Petitions to “fly the rainbow flag and stop the trucks”

By Lachlan Ellis

Two petitions came before the latest Ordinary Meeting of Council (OMC), on matters that couldn’t be more different: flying the rainbow flag at Council offices, and fixing safety issues on a Lal Lal road.

The two petitions were accepted at Council’s 3 August OMC, with 39 signatures on the petition regarding the rainbow flag, and 26 signatures on the Lal Lal road safety petition.

In the former petition, petitioners asked Council to “conduct community consultation on the draft Flag Flying Policy presented to the April 2021 meeting of Council, including on the issue of flying the rainbow flag”.

The Flag Flying Policy came before Council’s 7 April OMC in 2021, but the motion was lost as Councillors were concerned that the community had not been consulted on the policy.

The acceptance of the petition on 3 August, which was supported unanimously by Councillors, will mean a report will be prepared by Council Officers for Council to consider.

The latter petition concerned Clarendon-Lal Lal Road, with the main message being to “stop the trucks, reduce the speed, and fix the shared footpath on Clarendon-Lal Lal Road, Lal Lal”.

Petitioners called on Council to reduce the speed limit on the road from 80 km/h to 60 km/h, include new clear signage of the new speed limit, and take steps to stop/discourage heavy vehicles form using the road, which “is not heavy vehicle compliant”.

Like the rainbow flag petition, the Clarendon-Lal Lal Road petition was accepted with a unanimous vote, and Council Officers will prepare a report on the petition for Council to consider at a later date.