Commentary on Sections Undertaking community governance reviews Section 84: Review being undertaken: duty to respond to petition
199.This section is concerned with a case in which a principal council receives a community governance petition which relates to any part of its area and, at the time the petition is received, the council is in the course of undertaking a community governance review, the area to which the petition relates being wholly outside the area currently under review.
200.It sets out the following options from which the council can choose when deciding how to deal with the petition:
	The first option is for the council to modify the terms of reference of the current review to allow the recommendations made in the petition to be considered;
	The second option is for the principal council to undertake a separate review which has terms of reference that allow for the petition recommendations to be considered; and
	The third option is to modify the terms of reference of the current review, to undertake a separate review and ensure that, when taken together the terms of reference of the current review (as modified) and the terms of reference of the new review, allow for the petition to be considered.
201.However, the council does not have to choose from any of these options if it has in the previous two years concluded a community governance review and, in the council’s opinion, the area to which the petition relates covers the whole or a significant part of the area to which the review related.