Mount Maunganui landslide: Reopening timeline unclear in Tauranga City Council’s recovery plan
The main landside area is being monitored and remains cordoned off to the public. Photo / Alyse Wright
The Tauranga City Council has released its recovery plan following the January landslides.
One Mount Maunganui community leader says the plan lacks detail and clarity, while another says it makes the path to recovery clearer.
The Tauranga Recovery Plan outlined the council’s objectives and actions in relation to Mauao and other affected parts of the city.
That included how it would work with other organisations to make decisions. For Mauao, that included the Mauao Trust – which represents the three Tauranga Moana iwi owners of the maunga – and the joint management board, Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao.
The plan came about four months after the January 22 landslide from Mauao killed six people at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. Several investigations are underway.
The storm left 42 landslides on Mauao and further slip damage across the city. Two people were killed in a landslide at a rural Welcome Bay Rd property.
Mauao and several affected facilities at its base – including the council-owned holiday park, Mount Hot Pools and Pilot Bay boat ramp – remain closed. The boat ramp will reopen soon and rehabilitation work has started on Mauao’s summit track network.
The plan said a “process in place to consider the future” of the hot pools and holiday park was expected by September.
A process to consider the future of Mauao was expected by next month, when risk and remediation assessments – carrying an indicative cost of between $2 million and $5m – would be completed.
The process was expected to include a “timeframe for expected decisions to be communicated to the public”.
Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O’Neill said in his view the plan was “light on detail and clear procedure moving forward”.
O’Neill said the association was focused on Mauao walking tracks, the hot pools, and the holiday park – which he called an “economic driver” of Mount Maunganui.
The council has held two meetings about the recovery, one for Mount Maunganui businesses and one for the public.
O’Neill believed it would be better if the council engaged a panel with representatives from various local groups to gauge “what the community actually wants” in the recovery.
He said earlier talk of a protest was on the back burner because there was “traction” from the council.
Mount Business Association chairwoman Jo Veale said the road to recovery was clearer, even if the plan had taken 16 weeks to produce.
She said she hoped to see clear targets emerge.
The plan included support initiatives for businesses and visitation in Mount Maunganui, which Veale felt “confident” about.
She said marketing and revitalisation plans had been made, with partial funding from funds set up after the landslide.
“They’ve given us a voice and the ability to activate revitalisation on our own terms.”
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said he was glad the council was committing to moving forward on reopening Mauao and other amenities.
He said he would like more clarity but understood the council was wary of “overpromising”.
“The people of Tauranga want to be able to access Mauao as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Uffindell said he would continue encouraging the council to make that happen and keep communication levels high.
Council recovery manager Charlie Rahiri said Mauao would reopen when it was safe to do so.
“Work is actively underway to heal and repair the maunga ahead of public reopening.
“Any final decision on the reopening of the Mauao Historic Reserve will be safety-led and evidence based and is ultimately the decision of the Mauao Trust.”
Rahiri said remediation work on the Motukauri (summit) track started in early May. The council previously said this would take about four months, weather-dependent.
He said Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessments (QLRAs) for the hot pools and holiday park were likely to be completed and received by the council by September.
Next steps would then be considered, he said.
“Ahead of this work being completed, council intends to engage with the community about the future of the reserve, so as information is received, we are well placed to consider next steps.”
He said indicative costs would be finalised as more was understood about the nature and extent of damage.
Costs would cover geotech, QLRA work, monitoring, remediation planning, and the physical works.
Rahiri said funding was available through the 2026/27 financial year.
“If further funding is required in future years, this may be sourced through the 2027-37 long-term plan.”
The main Mauao landslide was also being monitored.
Pilot Bay boat ramp to reopen
The council announced on Friday that the Pilot Bay boat ramp would reopen within two weeks.
Rahiri said the ramp was closed for public safety.
“The risk to safety can now be managed through an update to the Trigger Action Response Plan (Tarp).”
He said the Tarp had three safety levels dependent on weather conditions.
Safety concerns could be mitigated under levels one and two.
Level three criteria, such as weather warnings or a seismic event, could temporarily close the ramp and carpark at short notice.
The ramp could also be closed periodically to support operational works associated with Mauao remediation.
Monitoring alarm
The council said in a media release on Thursday that additional monitoring of the main landslide area had been added to support the boat ramp reopening.
A weekly alarm test will run on Mondays at 10am from next week, sounding like a car alarm.
“This is a routine test –no action is needed."
Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.