The six surf life-saving clubs in the southern district will meet later this month to decide whether to vote the district out of existence, but there are concerns about the consequences of such a move.
The clubs - St Kilda, St Clair, Warrington, Brighton, Kaka Point and Oreti - have to decide on a new constitution as part of a new structure for Surf Life Saving New Zealand.
The national organisation has proposed to scrap the nine districts across the country and establish four regions.
This will lead to the liquidation of Surf Lifesaving Otago, which will be part of a new region, covering the whole South Island.
Surf Lifesaving Otago chairman Colin Weatherall said there would be no changes seen on the beaches, as the proposal was mainly to do with an attempt to cut down on duplication of resources at administration level.
Services would continue to be the same, he said, although he acknowledged clubs had some concerns.
District manager Phil Hudson would be made redundant from his position but would be able to apply for the position of the South Island region.
Weatherall said the changes were being driven by the board of Surf Life Saving New Zealand, which did not want to divide clubs.
Clubs, which had been consulted for more than a year about the changes, would remain, he said.
But St Kilda club chairman Peter Gibbons said the changes were perceived as being driven from the top down rather than the preferred bottom up.
Although he could understand the reasons behind the changes, the club wanted to make sure the positive aspects of life-saving in Otago remained.
"It is a struggle for a few people to understand it, as we've got a pretty good set-up down here and then they want to go and change it," Gibbons said.
"When the change does come, we want to retain what is the best for us and maintain our individual identity."
Whether funds raised locally would stay in local hands, and whether tie-ins with local authorities would remain were issues that needed to be addressed.
Kaka Point club chairman Daniel Haar said he could see the reason for change but hoped it would not take away the best things in surf life-saving in the southern district.
"We have got a lot of good programmes for schools and kids down here and we don't want to lose that. We need the reassurance of them being safe," Haar said.
"We do not want to change and then lose out."
Brighton club chairman Scott Weatherall said he had some initial questions about the move but those concerns had been allayed.
There were questions about equipment remaining in club hands, but he was happy with the proposal.
He could understand the reason to switch to a regional structure, as it removed duplication.
The meeting of all clubs is at the Sport Otago offices in High St, Dunedin, on June 25.
