Mount Maunganui’s base track is described as “obliterated” in the wake of January’s extreme rainfall, as iwi and Tauranga City Council collaborate on a plan to remediate the landslide-stricken path.
Mauao was hit by 42 landslides in January, after the Bay of Plenty was lashed with more than two months of rain in less than 12 hours.
One of those landslides ripped through the town’s holiday park, claiming six lives and sparking a 10-day recovery operation.
The base track was hit with 29 landslides, ranging from moderate to severe – leaving an unrecognisable tangle of broken trees, bare earth and a sense of silence.
Earthworks have commenced on the summit track, expected to take up to three months, while the base track has no set timeframe for remediation yet.
1News was given exclusive access to the base track alongside iwi, who described seeing the damage as “overwhelming”. “It's like describing a tupuna or ancestor that's suffered some great trauma,” said Joshua Te Kani.
Mauao trustee Jack Thatcher grew up on the maunga, recalling memories of seeing his dad and uncles fish for kaimoana in the late 1960s.
He told 1News many people don’t realise quite how damaged Mauao is.
'I hope your spade is as big as a bulldozer blade'
“We’ve got a lot of people saying 'oh just give us a spade we can go around there and fix it up',” he said.
“Well I hope your spade is as big as a bulldozers blade. We can't even get bulldozers around there so it’s going to be a difficult job being able to get machinery.”
Tauranga City Council’s freshly-appointed Mauao Recovery Manager Charlie Rahiri said he wanted to help return a sense of normality to the region, safely.
“What we're investigating now is the substantial damage to the base track,” he said.
“The ocean side of the base track is where most of the damage is and looking at it and assessing what are the time frames, what is the cost going to be and how do we do that in the safest way.”
For now, the future of Mount Maunganui’s holiday park and hot pools remained undecided, and would be a joint decision between Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council.
An external review of the council’s actions in the lead up to the January tragedy is due next month, while a central government inquiry into regional landslides, and separate investigations by police and WorkSafe are also underway.
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