Campaigners will need to collect more than 800 signatures before Mole Valley Council will debate their petition.

The authority will introduce new laws on December 15 in line with the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which aims to reinvigorate local democracy.

It will also launch an internet petitions scheme which will allow campaigners to raise their concerns and try to influence council decisions online.

Anyone who lives, works or studies in Mole Valley - including residents aged under 18 - will be able to sign or organise a petition and trigger a response from the authority within a fixed time period.

Councillor Stephen Cooksey, vice-chairman of Mole Valley Council’s scrutiny and audit committee, told a council meeting last Wednesday that 800 signatures was 1 per cent of the district’s population.

He said: “I think it will be very interesting to see how many of these petitions we do receive on the basis of the 800 signatures.”

He said the committee will review the figure after one year.

Councillor Kathryn Westwood said: “It will be very fascinating to see what sort of petitions we get coming forward.”

Councillor Caroline Salmon added: “It’s quite interesting to note that we now have with this a potential thing where a petition can trigger a debate, when we’ve had petitions in and they often don’t trigger a debate. They often just trigger a very brief response and people could have put quite a lot of effort into doing it.”

Councillors raised concerns about residents who do not have access to the internet, but Coun Westwood said they will still be able to submit paper petitions.

The new laws mean the authority will also need to give campaign leaders the opportunity to appeal decisions they feel are inadequate.

Surrey County Council will pay £20,000 to set up the internet petitions scheme for councils across the county. Mole Valley Council will contribute £500 a year.