I feel a little like an Olympic athlete who has spent four years working hard to win a gold medal.

The prize, in this case, is not a medal but NZ Transport Agency reducing the speed on SH77 outside the Opuke hot pools from 100km/h to 60km/h.

People who live in Methven, and those who visit, will feel a lot safer walking or cycling to the hot pools or the enchanted forest and local walking tracks.

It has taken a sustained effort, with the help of the wider community, to make this change. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition for a lower speed all those years ago, and who offered encouragement and support while the request made its way through the bureaucratic process.

While I haven't been at home much in the past week to see traffic travelling slower on that part of the highway, I've had lots of feedback from people saying how safe it will now be to walk that stretch.

I've been away this week in Auckland, at the national Welcoming Communities conference.

Ashburton District was one of a few local authorities to be a pilot Welcoming Community in 2017 and we are now regarded as a leader in the way we welcome new migrants, from around the world or other parts of New Zealand.

The conference is for elected members, like me, and for Council staff running the Welcoming Communities programme - our Welcoming Communities co-ordinator Mercedes Walkham and Group Manager Toni Durham are with me.

It's great to learn and share our experiences about how different programmes are run and how we welcome people into the community.

Our experience is that newcomers help boost the economic and cultural vitality of a district. We're seen as a district that is getting it done well, with our Welcoming Communities and our status as a Refugee Resettlement town.

As well as offering encouragement and advice to other local authorities getting into that space, we also gave a small presentation. It was great to hear that people all over the country often refer to our website for help and inspiration.

Mercedes has recently added a digital guide for newcomers onto the Council website and that has excellent information for those new to the district, as well as employers.

When newcomers feel they belong, it makes our society stronger, brings us closer together, and helps our economy grow.  Everyone gets to be a part of everything - working, being involved in the community, and socialising.