Council Direct is exactly as it sounds – a direct link from from Tauranga City Council to SunLive.

The newest tab on SunLive is part of an agreement with the council announced last week when Sun Media become the newest Project Tauranga partner.

Joining project Tauranga means Sun Media is among more than 40 companies and organisations able to collaborate and combine forces to bring about community projects.

'As part of our agreement with Sun Media, we now have a dedicated Tauranga City Council page on the SunLive website,” says Tauranga City Council communications manager Aimee Driscoll.

'Council Direct is an exciting new way for our community to get Tauranga City Council news directly from the source. Through Council Direct, we'll promote our consultations, news and events by uploading our own content as and when we need to, tapping into SunLive's extensive readership.”

Aimee says Council Direct will be the council's only third-party channel and 'is unchartered territory for us”.

'We don't yet know how people will respond or how it will evolve, but we hope it will be a way to extend our reach to ensure our community knows what is happening in their city.

'As a community-based organisation, Sun Media is a great fit with the Project Tauranga programme. Sun Media is the only locally-owned major media company in the region.”

Sun Media general manager Jay Burston says the new Council Direct offering further extends Sun Media's commitment to the local community.

'By bringing our readers direct news from the Tauranga City Council, the community is kept informed of matters that affect them straight from the Council themselves, instead of a news story surrounding those matters.

'SunLive still has its own Council news to cover opinion, feedback and community issues on Council matters, as we always have.

'It's a very exciting partnership, we're not aware of any other like it across New Zealand. It's great to see Tauranga City Council exploring unique channels to engage with our community in an open manner.”