Emergency services cordon tape at Mount Maunganui beach after the January 22 landslide. Photo / Michael Craig
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale says he remains confident Mauao will reopen despite the extensive damage to the landmark in January’s deadly storm.
Tauranga City Council has concluded its assessment of the damage and Drysdale said now they know what they’re dealing with, they can make a plan for the next stage.
The assessment found more than 40 landslides on the 232-metre mountain after the storm, which took six lives when one of the slips hit the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on January 22.
Inquiries by the council, the Government and WorkSafe will investigate the tragedy.
Mahé Drysdale told Local Democracy Reporting there was a chance the mountain would be closed forever, but that was not the council’s goal.
“I think there are over a million people a year who go and walk the tracks. We understand the community’s perspective.
“Our aspiration is obviously to return it to being able to be used. We want to get it back to what it was.
“Our primary concern is safety; we’re not going to do it [reopen] if it’s not safe.”
The council would work alongside the Mauao Trust, which owns the maunga on behalf of three iwi, to make a plan and understand the aspirations.
Mauao Trust chairwoman Matemoana McDonald declined to comment.
Geologists and geotechnical engineers found 42 landslides on Mauao’s three main walking tracks, including 24 severe enough to require more than a simple clean-up to reinstate the track.
The 12 most severe would be highly complex, costly and take longer to clear.
WSP NZ, the company contracted to assess the damage, told Local Democracy Reporting the hardest-hit tracks were the base track, Te Ara Tūtanga, with 31 areas impacted, and Te Ara Motukauri, the 4WD track, with seven.
Two areas of Waikorire Track, the steepest track to the summit, were impacted, along with one each area on the Oruahine Track (scenic summit walk) and Rangiwhakaoma (500-metre connecting track).
The damage included debris covering sections, undercutting and complete/partial loss of track width, over-steepened slopes, and debris blocking drainage channels.
The wooden steps on the connecting track were badly damaged, and the steps near the campground on the northern side of Mauao were “completely destroyed” by a landslide.
The team of landslide risk evaluation specialists physically inspected the slopes and also used detailed drone surveys.
The council said only authorised specialists have been permitted to enter the cordon around Mauao, for assessment purposes.
A smart monitoring system has been installed to monitor high-risk areas in real-time and sound an alarm if ground movement is detected.
Drysdale said most people had been “really respectful” of the cordon, but he was disappointed in those who had entered it.
He said cordon breachers risked the lives of emergency services as well as their own, and wasted police resources.
The cordon would remain in place until safety requirements were met.
“We’re working as quickly as we can, and we hope to have some good news in the coming months.”
Drysdale said it was too early to estimate the cost of Mauao’s rehabilitation but guessed it would be in the tens of millions.
He said once the bodies were recovered and the site returned to the council, the first priority had been getting surrounding businesses outside the cordon back up and running.
Next, he hoped to see the Mount Maunganui surf club building’s red sticker/placard removed.
The placard means the building is unsafe to occupy and forced the club to relocate operations.
The council said it was issued due to movement in the slope behind the club after the January 22 slips.
“We’re waiting on updated geotech advice following the recent rainfall so we can understand any remaining risks for the surf club, beach and campground areas.”
Drysdale said once the sticker was removed, the surf club would decide the next steps.
Of the other closed operations at the base of Mauao, he said the next priority would be the Pilot Bay boat ramp, before Mauao itself, then the campground and hot pools – both red-stickered.
He said temporary access restrictions on Adams Ave would be the “new normal” when heavy rain or severe weather was forecast.
Reopening the campground, which was owned and operated by the council, may require clearing it multiple times a year – a commercial factor in the decision facing the council.
“Can you have a campground that you’re going to have to evacuate multiple times a year? Is that reasonable or not? Is that a viable business?”
Mount Hot Pools is owned and operated by council-owned Bay Venues Ltd. Once the council believed the area was safe, reopening decisions would be up to Bay Venues’ governors.
Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker said once the council’s assessment of Mauao and the business’ own site inspection was complete, Bay Venues would determine the risks, work required, and next steps.
He said this process would take some time and Bay Venues would continue to work alongside the council, mana whenua and the community to understand what the best outcome looked like for the city.
“In the meantime, our Mount Hot Pools team – including both staff and contractors – is working across our other aquatic venues and supporting the ongoing investigations and recovery planning."
Te Awanui ward councillor Hēmi Rolleston used to walk up Mauao every day, usually at sunrise.
He said he had since to join a gym, as Mauao was his gym.
“I would climb with friends, and it allowed us to connect and catch up and exercise, we would always do a regular karakia up at the mauri stone at the summit, which would set us up for a great day ahead.
“If time permitted, we would go down to the cafes below for a coffee catch-up and sometimes to the hot pools.”
He said he was missing the connection with other regulars.
“The group I walked up Mauao with meet once a week and climb Hopukiore [Mount Drury] around six to seven times, which is roughly the equivalent of Mauao.
“It keeps us connected, and we can also see Mauao from the top.
“We have called it Mini Mauao.”
They also started walking group from Matapihi over the rail bridge into town every evening.
Anyone concerned about the sheep kept on Mauao need not worry, the council says.
Head of spaces and place, Alison Law, said they were in good condition.
“Additional paddock areas have been opened to give them ample feed, and a new water trough was installed after the slip damaged their main supply,” she said.
A further welfare check was planned this week under geotech supervision.
Rabbit numbers, usually controlled with regular shooting, were a concern but a control plan was being developed.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Ayla Yeoman is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.