South Wairarapa District Council are committed to making our communities welcoming and inclusive for all people to live, work and thrive.

We want our towns, countrysides and coasts to be warm, friendly places where people from all walks of life feel safe to connect, have fun and belong.

We are fortunate to have a lot of new people move here in recent years. Each person brings their unique experiences, culture, skills and perspectives. This brings incredible richness and diversity to our communities and if we help our new people settle in well, the whole community benefits.

That’s why we’ve joined Welcoming Communities, a nationally-funded programme led by Immigration New Zealand in partnership with the Ministry for Ethnic Affairs and the Human Rights Commission. This programme helps us work alongside our communities to improve accessibility and inclusion for everyone who now calls South Wairarapa home.

We’ll be working alongside our communities to understand what it’s like for our newcomers to settle into our communities, and create a plan to address the challenges and opportunities we find.

If you have moved to South Wairarapa in recent years, you can help us by sharing your experience in this quick Welcoming Communities Survey.

We’d love for you to be a part of this journey – whether you’ve just moved here or you’ve never left. So if you want to be involved in helping roll out the welcome mat for new community members, contact the Welcoming Communities Coordinator by email welcomingcommunities@swdc.govt.nz or text/ call 027 444 3258.