Tauranga City Council is set to determine the shape of its review into the Mauao tragedy. Photo / NZME
Tauranga City Council will hold an external review into the Mauao landslide tragedy.
Six people died after a section of Mauao hillside collapsed, sending a landslide into the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and the Mount Hot Pools about 9.30am on January 22.
It followed a record 24 hours of rain in Tauranga, with the region under a state of emergency amid a red weather warning.
The council has faced scrutiny over why the facilities at the base of Mauao were not evacuated after slips earlier that morning prompted its decision to close the maunga due to “ongoing risk of further slips”.
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale and council chief executive Marty Grenfell announced the next day there would be an “independent review … on all aspects leading up to Thursday’s Mauao landslide”.
Drysdale said the purpose was to establish the facts and it was not intended to replace any other formal processes.
The council has several roles in the Mauao area, including owning and operating the campground and joint management of Mauao with its iwi owners, while council-controlled operation Bay Venues runs the hot pools.
In an emergency meeting this morning, councillors voted near-unanimously to appoint an external person to undertake an organisational review into the systems, processes and decision-making leading up to the landslide.
The council also voted to “strongly support” an independent Crown inquiry and any other investigation by Crown agencies into the tragedy.
Drysdale was authorised to appoint the reviewer and approve the terms of reference.
Grenfell was instructed to provide all requested information to the reviewer and any other inquiry.
Several councillors emphasised the need for a transparent process that could deliver rapid answers about what happened and what could be learned.
The agenda for today’s meeting laid out three review options prepared by council staff: a rapid internal assessment led by a senior staff member with no prior involvement in the event; a comprehensive independent review by an external person with full access to council staff, records and relevant information; or to do nothing.
Doing nothing was not recommended as it would not meet community expectations or support the council’s duty under the Local Government Act to consider lessons and improvements.
Staff laid out the pros and cons for the other two options.
The rapid internal assessment would have provided faster delivery at a lower cost; however, it was likely to carry lower public confidence, and the recommendations generated through the assessment might not carry as much weight as those put forward by an external, independent reviewer.
The council also noted risks around perception bias and internal defensiveness.
The external review provided the strongest assurance, transparency and independence.
The downsides included higher costs and the potential for the process to take longer due to the need to use external reviewers.
It also noted risks around potentially overlapping with the Coroner, WorkSafe and potential Crown-led reviews.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said last week he believed there was a strong case for an independent government inquiry.
“Establishing the facts is not only what the families of those who lost their lives deserve, it’s also important in helping us ensure lessons are learned to prevent similar tragedies occurring elsewhere in the future.”
He told media there were concerns a council-led inquiry would not be impartial given “potentially an inherent conflict between the ownership of the campground and the council”.
The recovery operation at the slip site on Adams Ave wrapped up over the weekend, with the six victims recovered and identified.
They were Pakūranga College students Max Furse-Kee and Sharon Maccanico, both 15; Rotorua friends Susan Doreen Knowles and Jacqualine Wheeler, both 71; Swedish tourist Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20; and Morrinsville educator Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50.
Bay of Plenty Police district commander, Superintendent Tim Anderson, said on Sunday the scene was expected to be formally handed over to Tauranga City Council in the coming days.
He said police would support any subsequent Coronial inquest into the tragedy, and WorkSafe was continuing to scope its involvement in the next phase of the response.
Police signed an operational protocol for information-sharing with WorkSafe to avoid duplication of efforts and to facilitate the next stage of inquiries.
“Police will be formally speaking to witnesses and gathering as much information that we can to assist WorkSafe,” Anderson said.
“A number of police staff from around the country will be assisting with this next phase of work.”
WorkSafe’s role was to look into the organisations with a duty of care for people at the holiday park, and whether they were meeting their work health and safety responsibilities.
Drysdale told RNZ the council would start opening up the area around Mount Maunganui when it was safe.
He hoped streets could be reopened within days but said it could be months before Mauao itself reopened.
– 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.