A new $65,000 tower will keep watch over Mount Maunganui Main Beach next summer after Tauranga City Council agreed to preserve community safety and help replace the current version.

As part of this week's Long Term Plan deliberations, councillors voted 10-1 in favour of granting $200,000 to Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service - $65,000 for the tower and $135,000 to upgrade its emergency/first aid room in 2016.

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service general manager Glenn Bradley inspects the club's tower. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

This comes after the club appealed to council for a 50 per cent contribution, revealing its 25-year-old tower is an unsafe working environment for lifeguards. It will cover a complete rebuild and, at the very least, see the structure stripped back to its framing.

The balance will come from the club and community-sourced funding.

The club added a cost benefit analysis of the tower which clearly shows that the figures are less than the ongoing remedial costs over the next 12 months.

The $135,000 will help change the layout of the emergency management medical and administrative support facilities, as these would no longer be fit for purpose once new health and safety regulations came into force.

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby says the city is known as a beach area and council needs throw its support behind the 'critical” upgrade given the countless hours lifesavers give on the beach and around Mauao.

'I think it would be enough in the wider scale of our budget,” says Stuart. 'It's a moderate amount but I know the benefits would be huge.”

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout agrees, saying Mount Main Beach and Mauao are iconic for the city and this support is only going to be well received by the community.

Council's contribution will help fund a package of changes to the clubhouse, the tower and emergency room, as well as building an operations room to deliver the integrated support required for co-ordinating both ocean and land-based rescues in 2016.

This would provide an area for the search and rescue incident management team, separate to the main hall used for search and rescue operations.

It is a need that was well-highlighted during the search and rescue efforts when five-year-old Jack Dixon was swept out to sea last October.

Councillor John Robson reminds people that though the surf club's funding falls under Sports and Recreation submissions, it must be contextualised in terms of what the service offers to the community.

He says the contribution isn't helping fund paddleboards or financially supporting the members to 'play” their respective sport, but to provide a service.

Councillor Catherine Stewart opposed the funding of $200,000, citing there are other avenues the surf club could approach for funding rather than council.

'I believe that they can get the funding from other charities,” says Catherine. 'It would be nice to see those that use these facilities pay more.”

Tauranga City Council's Long Term Plan deliberations carry on today and Friday.