{"id":438478,"date":"2026-05-21T14:45:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/438478\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:45:21","slug":"sunlive-what-new-landslide-recovery-plan-says-about-mauao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/438478\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – What new landslide recovery plan says about Mauao"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tauranga City Council has released its recovery plan following the January landslides.<\/p>\n

One Mount Maunganui community leader says the plan lacks detail and clarity, while another says it makes the path to recovery clearer.<\/p>\n

The Tauranga Recovery Plan outlined the council\u2019s objectives and actions in relation to Mauao and other affected parts of the city.<\/p>\n

That included how it would work with other organisations to make decisions. For Mauao, that included the Mauao Trust \u2013 which represents the three Tauranga Moana iwi owners of the maunga \u2013 and the joint management board, Ng\u0101 Poutiriao \u014d Mauao.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The storm left 42 landslides on Mauao<\/a> and further slip damage across the city. Two people were killed in a landslide at a rural Welcome Bay Rd property.<\/p>\n

Mauao and several affected facilities at its base \u2013 including the council-owned holiday park, Mount Hot Pools and Pilot Bay boat ramp \u2013 remain closed. The boat ramp will reopen soon and rehabilitation work has started on Mauao\u2019s summit track network.<\/p>\n

The plan said a \u201cprocess in place to consider the future\u201d of the hot pools and holiday park was expected by September.<\/p>\n

A process to consider the future of Mauao was expected by next month, when risk and remediation assessments \u2013 carrying an indicative cost of between $2 million and $5m \u2013 would be completed.<\/p>\n

The process was expected to include a \u201ctimeframe for expected decisions to be communicated to the public\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"The

\nThe rescue operation at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park in January. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O\u2019Neill said in his view the plan was \u201clight on detail and clear procedure moving forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill said the association was focused on Mauao walking tracks, the hot pools, and the holiday park \u2013 which he called an \u201ceconomic driver\u201d of Mount Maunganui.<\/p>\n

The council has held two meetings about the recovery, one for Mount Maunganui businesses<\/a> and one for the public<\/a>.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill believed it would be better if the council engaged a panel with representatives from various local groups to gauge \u201cwhat the community actually wants\u201d in the recovery.<\/p>\n

He said earlier talk of a protest was on the back burner<\/a> because there was \u201ctraction\u201d from the council.<\/p>\n

Mount Business Association chairwoman Jo Veale said the road to recovery was clearer, even if the plan had taken 16 weeks to produce.<\/p>\n

She said she hoped to see clear targets emerge.<\/p>\n

The plan included support initiatives for businesses and visitation<\/a> in Mount Maunganui, which Veale felt \u201cconfident\u201d about.<\/p>\n

She said marketing and revitalisation plans had been made, with partial funding from funds set up after the landslide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve given us a voice and the ability to activate revitalisation on our own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said he was glad the council was committing to moving forward on reopening Mauao and other amenities.<\/p>\n

\"Tauranga

\nTauranga MP Sam Uffindell at a vigil for the lives lost in the January 22 landslides. Photo \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n

He said he would like more clarity but understood the council was wary of \u201coverpromising\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Tauranga want to be able to access Mauao as soon as it is safe to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uffindell said he would continue encouraging the council to make that happen and keep communication levels high.<\/p>\n

Council recovery manager Charlie Rahiri said Mauao would reopen<\/a> when it was safe to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork is actively underway to heal and repair the maunga ahead of public reopening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rahiri said remediation work on the Motukauri (summit) track<\/a> started in early May. The council previously said this would take about four months, weather-dependent.<\/p>\n

\"The

\nThe main landslide on Mauao during the emergency response. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Next steps would then be considered, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhead 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said indicative costs would be finalised as more was understood about the nature and extent of damage.<\/p>\n

Costs would cover geotech, QLRA work, monitoring, remediation planning, and the physical works.<\/p>\n

Rahiri said funding was available through the 2026\/27 financial year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf further funding is required in future years, this may be sourced through the 2027-37 long-term plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main Mauao landslide was also being monitored.<\/p>\n

Pilot Bay boat ramp to reopen<\/p>\n

The council announced on Friday that the Pilot Bay boat ramp would reopen within two weeks.<\/p>\n

Rahiri said the ramp was closed for public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk to safety can now be managed through an update to the Trigger Action Response Plan (Tarp).\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Tarp had three safety levels dependent on weather conditions.<\/p>\n

\"

\nThe Pilot Bay boat ramp and carpark have been closed since the large January 22 landslide on Mauao. Photo \/ Kelly O’Hara<\/p>\n

Safety concerns could be mitigated under levels one and two.<\/p>\n

Level three criteria, such as weather warnings or a seismic event, could temporarily close the ramp and carpark at short notice.<\/p>\n

The ramp could also be closed periodically to support operational works associated with Mauao remediation.<\/p>\n

Monitoring alarm<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A weekly alarm test will run on Mondays at 10am from next week, sounding like a car alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a routine test \u2013 no action is needed.”<\/p>\n

Bijou Johnson<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tauranga City Council has released its recovery plan following the January landslides. One Mount Maunganui community leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-438478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}