Fifty-two jobs will be lost and 54 jobs created in the latest restructuring by the Tauranga City Council.

The shake-up comes 18 months after the major changes that cleaned out nearly all the top-tier managers - a process described as "difficult and messy years" by Terry Molloy, who was then a councillor.

Council communications manager Frank Begley said the latest restructuring was about making sure resources were put into the right areas. The work has been led by chief executive Garry Poole, who was appointed towards the end of the last restructuring, which dragged on for two years after former chief executive Ken Paterson died on the job and the task passed to interim CEO Leigh Auton.

Mayor Stuart Crosby said staff were being consulted on the draft restructuring proposal.

Mr Begley said affected staff would have first choice for the new positions. Changes included expanding the council's group structure to six: infrastructure services, environmental services, organisational services, community services, strategy, and financial services.