Mauao base track to reopen Friday

Aerial photos Mount Maunganui. Photo / File

The full loop of the Mauao base track will reopen for public use on Friday.

Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell said a small karakia will be held at 7am and members of the public were welcome.

There was still some work to do on the track, so a formal opening ceremony would be held in February when it was complete.

In 2017, ex-cyclone Debbie caused a 14m slip that closed a portion of the track. The full loop was reopened after the council built a set of temporary stairs over the slipped portion but they were not accessible to people using prams, strollers and wheelchairs.

The last council got resource consent for work to realign the slipped portion of the track, building it as a boardwalk on the beach, but agreed to look at other options after cost estimates skyrocketed.

A new project to repair the track on its original route has proceeded rapidly since a new council was elected in October, with frequent meetings between Powell, council staff, the Mauao Trust, Heritage New Zealand and contractors to get the work done before Christmas.

In November Powell told said he expected the cost of the new project would come in under $2m.