CAMPAIGNERS are reflecting on the process of taking on the Council as it prepares to review some 21 petitions presented during the last six months.

Under a scheme introduced in 2010, the Council’s Overview Committee is required to review the progress of all petitions it receives.

Those up for discussion at the latest meeting, range from an anti-squatting petition signed by almost 2,000 people to one complaining about parking on a Wanstead street backed by just five people.

Kathy Hart, 46, of Monkhams Drive, Woodford Green, presented a 600 name petition to the Council last November demanding action on Inmans Row where parents say their children’s lives were being put at risk by motorists.

She said: “Once I got the signatures, the council meetings started and that was a massively frustrating experience, because nothing seemed to happen.

“It was a painfully slow process and at times I thought I was just throwing three months down the drain.”

But, after several months of debate and a consultation, new restrictions were introduced on the road.

Mrs Hart said: “It’s a joy now the changes have been made and the road is safe.

“My advice to anyone considering it, would be to stick with the petition process because it can work.”

Under rules introduced in 2010, any petition which gets more than 1,500 signatures must be debated at a full Council meeting.

Susan Dixon, 48, of Coventry Road, Ilford, got almost 2,000 signatures demanding councillors lobby Parliament to make squatting a criminal offence.

She says her experience of the process was a frustrating one.

And she added: “The meeting just became a slanging match between councillors trying to score political points.

“Nobody seemed interested in debating the issues. It was confusing and we felt a lot of the people there were very condescending.”

But the debate put Mrs Dixon’s campaign in the spotlight, attracting national media coverage.

Parliament has since criminalised squatting.

Mrs Dixon said: “I hardly slept for three months, but it was worth it.

“The process needs to be refined so petitioners are more involved in the debate, but I can’t deny that appearing in front of the Council helped raise the profile of the campaign.”

Councillor Gwyneth Deakins, a member of the Overview Committee, said: “Petitions are extremely important.

“It can be frustrating for petitioners to see how long it takes to address their concerns, but we do take them very seriously.”

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