A section carved from Mauao by the January landslide. The area remains closed to the public, with shipping containers placed in case of further slips. Photo / Kelly O'Hara
A Mount Maunganui leader has accused the city council of excluding residents from plans to fix and reopen Mauao.
Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O’Neill believes Tauranga City Council has “shut the doors to us as locals”.
He said a protest is possible unless things improve.
His comments come as community pressure mounts for more information, engagement and involvement on the plans for Mauao.
This includes a 2600-signature petition asking the council to establish a residents panel to be involved in reopening discussions.
The local business association also said council engagement has been limited and fragmented, with little collaboration and information, despite the organisation’s offers to help.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said the community needs clarity on the next steps.
The council has acknowledged the frustrations and said a lot of work is happening but it can’t share much about it yet.
The restoration will be staged and timing decisions will be made once assessments and approvals are in place.
The council will host a dedicated business update session in Mount Maunganui on Monday and hopes to hear feedback to shape its response.
It has been nearly three months since the January 22 landslide from Mauao killed six people at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and damaged the Mount Hot Pools.
Severe rainfall led to more than 40 slips on the 232m-high mountain, where the walking tracks are used by more than a million people each year.
Mauao, the campground, pools, and nearby Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service building and Pilot Bay boat ramp remain closed.
O’Neill, of the ratepayers’ association, said the community felt shut out of discussions about reopening Mauao.
“[The] council has shut the doors to us as locals,” he told Local Democracy Reporting.
“Mauao is the heart and soul of everyone who lives in the Mount.”
He said locals got fed up waiting for the council to make a plan after a 2019 slip damaged the base track, and cost estimates at the time of up to almost $7m also caused concern.
“There’s a sense of council stuffing around again and spending money unwisely.”
The council has estimated more than $8.5m would be needed for storm recovery-related costs in the next financial year.
This included an estimate of $6m in capital costs for restoring Mauao and other damaged facilities.
Mount Maunganui Business Association chairwoman Jo Veale said engagement with the council had been limited and fragmented.
There had been little collaboration, despite the association’s offers to help, she said.
She said the council told the association it was working on a transition-to-recovery plan, which would outline what needed to be done.
She has not seen the plan despite previous assurances it was close to being completed.
Veale said businesses were without direction and frustration was rising. People felt the recovery was “in limbo”.
“Everyone is waiting for that document so that we can spring into action.
“We can’t do anything until we see what they’re going to do.”
Association business improvement manager Jay Banner said the council had been meeting fortnightly with the organisation and others.
He said the council had “not had a lot of information” to share.
The association had provided the council with data that showed spending was down compared with other areas.
However, “Mounties” were fiercely loyal and continued to shop local, he said. The town centre was still vibrant and hospitality was going strong.
An online petition asking the council to establish a community panel of 11 residents to discuss ways to safely and sustainably reopen Mauao and its surroundings to the public has more than 2600 signatures.
Petitioner Barry Scott told Local Democracy Reporting his idea was for the panel of locals to be an influencing body.
“The panel itself won’t make any decisions.”
Scott would speak in the public forum at the council’s Tuesday meeting. This will be when the petition closes.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said many people were asking what the future looked like, what timeframes there were and when Mauao would be safe to reopen.
“I think we need some clarity from the council on what the next step forward looks like.”
Rutherford acknowledged the tragedy, but said keeping Mauao closed was not the only way to be respectful of the loss of life.
”I’m sure there’ll be future discussions around a memorial and things like that.”
He said businesses wanted clarity about the future.
Rutherford said the council needed to front up and tell the community about timeframes for Mauao, the surf club, which remains red-placarded because of slip risks, the campground and hot pools.
The council said a Tauranga Recovery Plan was being developed and regular updates would continue, with support being explored for impacted businesses.
A timeframe for its plan had not been confirmed and timing decisions would be made once assessments were complete and approvals in place.
Supporting local businesses was a priority and the council was planning a business support session on Monday to update businesses.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale said the council recognised it had been a difficult period for many people and businesses.
He acknowledged the “financial pressure” and emotional toll of the ongoing disruption and uncertainty.
“We understand the frustration that comes with not always having clear answers, and the impact that uncertainty has had on planning and day-to-day operations. The community has told us they need clearer, more consistent communication, and we’ve heard that.
“It is frustrating for us as well. Behind the scenes, there is a lot of work going on and unfortunately, we don’t have significant new information to share currently.”
He said the council wanted to hear from local businesses at the information session on Monday so it could continue to shape its response practically and meaningfully.
The Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund remained open to support affected individuals and businesses.
The council said the restoration would be staged and include detailed assessments, remediation works and safety checks, with cultural values guiding all decisions. The maunga is iwi-owned and jointly managed with the council.
Areas of damage to the summit tracks were generally smaller and more contained, the council said.
Restoring access to these would be prioritised, subject to safety, cultural and technical approvals. It had not yet been decided which specific tracks would reopen.
“The base track, Te Ara Tūtanga, has significantly larger slips, large fallen trees and more complex ground conditions, which makes repairs more challenging and time-consuming.”
Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessments had started for the area surrounding the holiday park, hot pools and lifeguard building to understand ongoing risk and possible mitigations that will inform decision making, the council said.
The Pilot Bay boat ramp remained closed as it sat within a landslide run-out zone.
– 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.