diff --git a/docs/iris/src/whatsnew/contributions_3.0.0/docchange_2019-Dec-04_black_code_formatting.txt b/docs/iris/src/whatsnew/contributions_3.0.0/docchange_2019-Dec-04_black_code_formatting.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..500a215bb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/iris/src/whatsnew/contributions_3.0.0/docchange_2019-Dec-04_black_code_formatting.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+* Added support for the `black <https://black.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`_ code formatter.
+  This is now automatically checked on GitHub PRs, replacing the older, unittest-based
+  "iris.tests.test_coding_standards.TestCodeFormat".
+  Black provides automatic code format correction for most IDEs.
+  See the new developer guide section on this :
+  https://scitools-docs.github.io/iris/master/developers_guide/code_format.html.