Tauranga City Council has debated building a $215,000 temporary bund to replace shipping containers used as a landslide barrier in Mount Maunganui.
By Ayla Yeoman of Local Democracy Reporting
The council yesterday discussed proposed options for Adams Ave behind closed doors, despite objections from two councillors.
It reopened the meeting to make a decision, seeking more information about alternatives.
The shipping containers were installed at the foot of Mauao after the January 22 landslide killed six holidaymakers and damaged facilities.
Protocols were also introduced to close Adams Ave to traffic during times of heightened slip risk, such as during severe weather.
The road had been closed several times since and this was expected to keep happening over the next 6-18 months, a council staff report said.
The report recommended building an engineered bund – a 2.5m-high earthen mound – to replace the containers as the best option to reduce this disruption for the community.
A bund would mean the road would not have to close, the report by principal strategic advisor Nick Chester and spaces and places project outcomes manager Amanda Davies said.
It would be an interim measure while longer-term decisions were made about the area.
Other options included considered ballasting the shipping containers; retaining the current container arrangement with a one-way road closure; or keeping the status quo.
The council was working to reopen the mountain’s slip-damaged summit tracks and the Pilot Bay boat ramp.
The ramp and carpark had been closed since the slip due to being in a runout zone, but on May 12, the council directed staff work at pace to reopen it.
Tuesday’s report said good progress had been made towards reopening the boat ramp.
This would improve public access and, along with other measures, allow a reduction in the security presence around Mauao.
Security costs would reduce from $5040 to $2160 per day.
Public exclusion
A report by WSP detailing the landslide response and Adams Ave mitigation strategy was kept publicly excluded at the meeting.
This report would be released to the public when the Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessment (QLRA) was publicly released, which is due in July.
Council recovery manager Charlie Rahiri said the topic had to be discussed in a publicly excluded session “to stop prejudice around the QLRA process, which was looking at the risk around the hot pools and campgrounds”.
Rahiri said the information could be misinterpreted by the public as part of the QLRA and prejudice the process if released early.
“Exclusion is also necessary to support risk management, public health and safety in accordance with Section 2 of the Local Government Official Information Meetings Act,” he said.
Matua-Ōtūmoetai Ward councillor Glen Crowther said not releasing the report could seem like “trying to deny [the public] access to factual information”, as opposed to showing transparency.
He said he thought people would be “reassured” by seeing the report.
Arataki Ward councillor Rick Curach said if the actual reason for not allowing the information to be shared with the public was due to the risk of misinterpretation, it did not fit into the act.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale said he accepted Rahiri’s official reason.
After a majority vote, the council went into a public-excluded session, but later continued in an open session.
Shipping containers
Council staff could not say how much it was costing to lease the shipping containers when asked by Drysdale.
The mayor said the information was needed to understand the difference between keeping the containers or building the bund.
Drysdale said he was comfortable with the containers and opening Adams Ave at all times, including during Level 3 – the highest emergency level of the Trigger Action Response Plan.
“I’m comfortable that there is an acceptable risk there.”
He said he was not prepared to make a decision and wanted to wait for the new report to understand and weigh the risk and decide if it was acceptable.
“We’re getting ourselves through the next six weeks or so until we get a QLRA and we can make better decisions.
“We’ve got to start opening things up, and we’ve got to start understanding our risks and deciding what we’re comfortable with.
“Let’s do it once and do it right.”
Drysdale said alarm systems on Mauao would be triggered if any of the hill moved, which counted as a mitigation.
Pāpāmoa Ward councillor Steve Morris said he did not like the containers and was “very keen to look at any and every option we have for removing them”.
Morris said if the report found a barrier was needed, his preference would be for a bund.
“Those containers need to go,” he said.
“The sooner we can get a more aesthetically pleasing view down there for Adams Ave, the better.”
Councillors Kevin Schuler and Glen Crowther also shared their distaste for the containers.
Councillors rejected the recommendation to build a bund and ordered a new report considering the implications of leaving the shipping containers, with the ability for Adams Ave to remain open to two-way traffic, along with appropriate signage warning the public of any residual risk.
The council told Local Democracy Reporting after the meeting the shipping container lease costs were $1200 per month excluding GST.
The bund
The report said the bund would provide the most effective and proportionate response, improving access and community outcomes while continuing to prioritise public safety.
It would be constructed along the upslope side of Adams Ave and covered in a hydro-seeded vegetation layer.
The estimated construction cost was $215,936.
The 1049cu m of imported granular fill, costing $139,537, could be reused as part of a future permanent structure.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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