DCC news coming out monthly

Dunedin City Council communications and marketing manager Graham McKerracher checks a copy of the council's new newsletter, FYI Dunedin, yesterday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

It's small, it's punchy, and it's coming to your letterbox.

The Dunedin City Council has unveiled its new approach to communicating with city residents.

The fold-out newsletter, called FYI Dunedin, began arriving in Dunedin letterboxes yesterday.

It replaces the quarterly City Talk magazine, which ceased earlier this year after the council decided its format was outdated and there was no way of knowing its readership.

Council communications and marketing manager Graham McKerracher said each issue of the new publication would feature commentary from Mayor Dave Cull or council chief executive Paul Orders and a different community board each week.

It would also publish feature stories, list upcoming Dunedin events and council meetings and include information formerly found in Factline, another council publication which had been discontinued.

Written and designed by council staff, it would be distributed on the first Friday of each month, except January, to Dunedin's 49,000 letterboxes.

The newsletter would cost $104,000 annually, less than the $154,000 combined cost of City Talk ($120,000) and Factline ($34,000) each year.

The council hoped to move to a largely electronic distribution of the newsletter over time, but residents would still be able to opt for a hard copy if they preferred, he said.