Community Korero with Siv Fjaerestad

On 1 July South Wairarapa District Council announced its membership of the Immigration New Zealand (INZ)’s Welcoming Communities programme – Te Waharoa ki Ngā Hapori. 

South Wairarapa is one of 26 Councils now signed up to the scheme, which helps communities create welcoming environments for newcomers including migrants, former refugees and international students, and people moving from elsewhere in Aotearoa.

The Welcoming Communities approach creates inclusive communities by promoting and building strong connections between the receiving community and newcomers, practicing Whanaungatanga and Manaakitanga (a sense of belonging and hospitality). It actively involves members of the receiving community in welcoming activities. 

This approach was tested as a two-year pilot programme from July 2017 to June 2019, led by INZ in a joint approach with Councils, local communities and the Office of Ethnic Communities. 

Becoming a Welcoming Community is a chance to show our commitment to diversity and inclusion. It means putting out the welcome mat, so people from all cultures and backgrounds feel welcome as they come to the South Wairarapa to live, learn, work and visit. 

The Welcoming Communities Programme is a great opportunity for everyone to celebrate diversity and contribute to your community. If you are interested in finding out more about this programme or getting involved in running welcoming activities, get in touch.

The Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa District Councils recognise the importance of having rangatahi (12–24-year-olds) contribute to council decision-making. They want to reflect this commitment through the review of the current Wairarapa Rangatahi Strategy which spanned 2016-2021. This is a new strategy for SWDC and will create a vision and goals to progress youth development outcomes for our district, and support a regional lens on rangatahi development needs.

It is important that rangatahi (youth) are at the centre of this project and help drive and shape the strategy and action plan. There will be a range of ways to be involved, including workshops, a focus group and a survey, to assist and advise the three Councils on how to help grow a great region where young people thrive.

If you are interested in finding out more, or to be involved, please contact Siv on cdco@swdc.govt.nz or sign up to receive updates by heading to the shared Councils’ landing page MDC’s Strategy Review page.

Last but not least – Council’s Community and Youth Grants are open: the 2022/23 funding round runs from Monday 25 July 2022 – Friday 19 August 2022. Go to our website (https://swdc.govt.nz/community/grants/ ) to find out more!