Mauao landslide frequently asked questions

Mauao is owned by the Mauao Trust, representing Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāti Pūkenga. Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council jointly manage Mauao under a Memorandum of Understanding through Ngā Poutiriāo ō Mauao, the joint administration board. Any decisions about the future of Mauao will be made in partnership between the Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council.

Reserves at Mauao

There are two separate reserves at Mauao, with different ownership and management structures. These are:

Mauao Historic Reserve: The reserve is owned by the Mauao Trust - an iwi body established to hold ownership of Mauao (Mount Maunganui) on behalf of the Tauranga Moana iwi – Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāti Pūkenga. Council and Mauao Trust have entered into a memorandum of understanding which establishes Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao: a joint administering board with representation from the three iwi of Tauranga Moana and Waitaha, alongside Tauranga City Council. The purpose of Ngā Poutirāo ō Mauao is to manage and administer Mauao Historic Reserve.

Mauao Recreation Reserve: Tauranga City Council owns this reserve and is the administering body under the Reserves Act 1977. The reserve includes:

• Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park (buildings/assets owned and operated by Council)
• Mount Hot Pools (buildings/assets owned and operated by Bay Venues Limited with a ground lease from Council, a council controlled organisation under the Local Government Act 2002)
• Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service Building (buildings owned and operated by the Lifeguard Service with a ground lease from Council).

The weather event has impacted both reserves and will require significant focus as part of recovery efforts.

Tauranga City Council and the Mauao Trust, through Ngā Poutiriāo ō Mauao, are working together with the view that Mauao will recover and reopen, following the significant damage caused by recent severe weather and the Mauao Landslide. The intent is to restore access to Mauao, but it is likely that reopening will need to be staged and it must be based on safety evidence. Mauao is currently a high‑hazard environment with 42 identified landslides (12 classified as severe) and ongoing risk during heavy rainfall. Any reopening decisions will be made jointly by Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council, with physical and cultural safety as the primary considerations.

Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council are currently working together through the process of reopening Mauao. The Mauao Trust's role is to uphold the mana, cultural integrity, and long-term guardianship of Mauao, while working in partnership with Tauranga City Council on decisions about access, safety, and management of the maunga. Mauao is not just a landmark - it is a sacred tūpuna maunga of Tauranga Moana iwi, vested in the Mauao Trust on behalf of iwi, and holds deep cultural, historical, and spiritual significance. Any decision about reopening must therefore reflect not only technical and public safety advice, but also the Mauao Trust’s responsibility to protect the mauri of Mauao and honour its importance to iwi and hapū.

Because Mauao is both culturally significant and widely used, decisions about reopening require careful collaboration and time. Reopening Mauao involves several groups, each with specific responsibilities:

• Mauao Trust: the owners and kaitiaki of Mauao, responsible for protecting its cultural, spiritual, and historical values.
• Tauranga City Council: provides administrative support, coordination, and funding (pūtea), and helps manage access arrangements
• Independent experts: provide technical advice on safety, environmental impacts, and track conditions.
• Other agencies: may be invloved to support health, safety and environmental management.

Mauao is currently a high-hazard environment with 42 identified landslides (12 classified as severe).

Map of the landslides and scale of these (5mb pdf)

Mauao remains a high‑hazard area due to 42 landslides, unstable ground, and ongoing risk of further movement. Safety advice from geotechnical engineers requires the area to stay closed. All landslides have been assessed. Monitoring equipment is in place, an exclusion zone remains, and a Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) guides responses during heavy rain, land movement and seismic activity.  Work on safety, assessment and remedial options are now being undertaken. There are plans in place to remediate and clear some of the hazards, with contractors due to start remediating in the coming weeks.

The fencing on Adams Ave is temporary and required for safety and site management. Council is looking at ways to improve its appearance, where this can be done safely and within operational constraints.

Council’s role is to support and help event organisers facilitate their events in their chosen locations where possible. We collaborate closely with organisers about these locations and are working to support the continued use of Mount Main Beach, while operating within its current conditions and capacity.

In July 2026, the existing landslide above the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park experienced multiple movements, known as regressions or reactivations of the slip. This meant the area of instability extended further upslope than previously identified, changing the complexity of the project. Monitoring and investigations continue to assess slope conditions. Understanding whether the site has stabilised following the July regression is an important step before any repair works can begin.

The additional movement in July significantly changed site conditions and meant engineers need to revisit aspects of the investigation and design process. Before any repair works can proceed, engineers need to reassess the landslide to understand: 

• the extent of the new ground movement 
• whether the slope remains unstable 
• if the original repair approach was still appropriate 
• what additional measures would be required to ensure a safe, long-term solution. 

It is important that repair solutions are based on the latest site information and addresses the full extent of the instability. Beginning repairs before this reassessment is completed could increase the likelihood of further slope failure and put workers at risk. The updated information is helping inform a repair solution that addresses the full extent of the instability, rather than only the original slip area. 

The July regression highlighted that what is visible on the surface does not always reflect the full extent of movement occurring beneath the ground. Geotechnical investigations help determine the size and depth of the landslide; how groundwater may be affecting slope stability; whether further movement is likely; and the most effective long-term stabilisation measures. This information is critical to designing a repair that is safe, durable and cost-effective. 

While the final design is still being developed, potential works may include: 

• slope stabilisation measures 
• improved drainage systems to manage groundwater 
• retaining or earthworks structures 
• reinstatement of affected areas 
• vegetation and planting to support long-term stability. 

Since the additional movement occurred, the project team has been: 

• undertaking further geotechnical assessments 
• monitoring ground conditions 
• reviewing engineering options 
• updating design requirements based on the latest information 
• planning for the next stages of repair works. 

The priority is to deliver a safe and resilient long-term solution for the landslide area. While the July regression added complexity to the project, the additional investigations are helping ensure that future works effectively stabilise the slope and reduce the risk of further movement. The next steps include: 

• completing the remaining investigations and monitoring 
• finalising the engineering design 
• securing any necessary approvals and engaging contractors 
• commencing stabilisation and repair works 
• restoring affected areas and reopening them once it is safe to do so. 

The Local Transition Notice for Tauranga City Council, which took effect on February 4 and was extended to 1 April, has ended. Recovery work can now be managed using our normal legislation and policies, rather than emergency provisions.

At this stage we do not have a timeline for reopening, however the coming months will be important in our recovery journey. Any decisions about reopening tracks will be informed by an assessment of landslide risk and the safety of visitors to Mauao. As contractors continue remediating and repairing tracks, signs of progress will become easier to see and timeframes will become clearer. Access to Mauao will need to return gradually and carefully. Some areas will remain under active restoration and closed to public access, while others will reopen when it is safe to do so. This is not just about restoring access to tracks, recovery is about people, place and connection, and we are restoring connections with Mauao for our community. 

The Tauranga Recovery Plan will guide how the city will recover from the January 2026 extreme weather event. The Tauranga Recovery Plan is a high-level document, focused on restoring safety and wellbeing, enabling communities and businesses to recover, and building resilience so Tauranga is better prepared for future events. It is framed by several recovery principles, goals and objectives, as well as broad actions that will be undertaken in the coming months. It has the two focus areas of Mauao and other citywide issues. Although the recovery and restoration of Mauao is a key pillar of the Tauranga Recovery Plan, it does not aim to get ahead of exact decisions of the future reopening of Mauao. Ongoing monitoring and reporting will take place to ensure that recovery remains on track. 

Tauranga Recovery Plan 2026 (10mb pdf)

Information and analysis to date suggest that restoring access to Motukauri (summit track network) will be easier than restoring the Te Ara Tūtanga (base track around Mauao. Planning is underway to enable restoration of operational and maintenance access to the summit. This work requires specialist contractor expertise, experienced in undertaking such remedial work, in conjunction with geotechnical expertise. Implementing a plan to access the summit is underway and is expected to take up to approximately four months, however this is dependent on weather conditions over the coming months.

The base track is important to the community, but it is also the most complex area to remediate. The base track has 29 landslides, extensive treefall and debris, and sections within active run‑out zones. Reinstatement is not a simple clean‑up and will require engineered, staged solutions. For this reason, the base track will take longer to reopen.

Additional monitoring is now in place at the main landslide area to support ongoing safety work and the reopening of the Pilot Bay boat ramp. A weekly alarm test will run Mondays at 10am from 25 May, sounding like a car alarm. This is a routine test – no action is needed.

Approximately 40,000m3 of soil and vegetation was moved in the landslides that happened on Mauao in January. It would take around 500,000 wheelbarrow loads to move this amount of soil and vegetation. Significant additional volumes were displaced during the landslide reactivation event in late July.

Security at Mauao continues to be necessary. The maunga remains a high-risk area and an active recovery worksite, and we continue to experience breaches of the restricted area. The security presence is therefore an important part of protecting both the public and those undertaking recovery work. This requires a trained, professional workforce with appropriate health and safety oversight, accountability and consistency of coverage. Using volunteers would not meet the risk, liability, or operational requirements for this type of response.

Currently there are two wardens on site, a reduction from seven at earlier stages. This is a trial reduction due to the lack of reported breach attempts where the Pilot Bay side of the cordon fenceline is more robust with the full height fencing going down into the water. This, alongside the Mount Maunganui Surf Rescue Club and boat ramp reopening, means more people are in the general area, increasing passive surveillance. 

Costs as at the end of March 2026 were approximately $497,839 on 24/7 security to enforce the cordon following the landslides. Costs per day have been reduced since March 2026, due to the reduction of wardens needed per day, reduced from 7 to 2.  The contract was directly appointed to Nga Watene Maori o Mauao Charitable Trust (a separate entity to Mauao Trust) due to the urgency of the emergency response. The contract was established on 9 February 2026 for an initial one-month term, with three one-month rights of renewal to maintain flexibility given uncertainty around the site.

A Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessment (QLRA) is being completed for the Mauao Recreational Reserve which includes the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, Mount Hot Pools, and the Mount Surf Lifeguard Service building which includes analysis of risk to life in the event of a further landslide. Risk assessments for the Mauao walking tracks are also being carried out, which will generally follow the same process as the QLRA.

The QLRA a technical tool that underpins decisions about whether areas of Mauao can be safely reopened to the public. It provides the evidence base for risk-informed decision-making. The QLRA quantifies the likelihood of landslides or rockfall occurring and the potential consequences (e.g. harm to people). The QLRA is used to model how different interventions reduce risk, such as: rockfall protection measures; slope stabilisation; scaling or reshaping slopes and access restrictions (e.g. barriers, rerouted tracks).

The QLRA will help guide decisions by quantifying actual risk levels, determining whether risk is acceptable, and testing whether mitigation is effective. The QLRA ensures that safety risk is clearly understood and included in the reopening decision-making. The QLRA is just one part of the wider decision factors including: cultural values and iwi/hapū perspectives; environmental outcomes; community expectations; and practical feasibility and cost. The technical assessments are one part of the whole picture.

The Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park is owned and operated by Tauranga City Council.

The Holiday Park was heavily damaged by a landslide that caused the tragic loss of six lives. The site remains within a high‑risk zone and is currently unsafe.

A Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessment (QLRA) is underway to assess future risk and possible mitigations. Council is considering the assessment’s findings.
QLRA Mauao report (kb pdf)
 

The Mount Hot Pools are on Council-owned land, and the buildings are owned and operated by Bay Venues Ltd, a Council Controlled Organisation.

The Hot Pools sustained extensive landslide damage and sit within the Mauao exclusion zone.

The QLRA will inform all ongoing risk mitigation and decision-making. Alongside that work, Bay Venues is doing a detailed assessment of the Mount Hot Pools to determine the full extent of damage, including checking all the important infrastructure underground (the pipes, the bore, etc.). A small group of technical experts has done an initial visual inspection of the venue and site. The assessment will look at whether the Mount Hot Pools can safely reopen and, if so, the scope of work required. Bay Venues is working closely with council to ensure the assessment is carried out safely and with due regard to the sensitive conditions surrounding the site.

The Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service own their building, and Tauranga City Council owns the land it sits on.

The Club building was not damaged during the January weather event and its placard status was changed from red to white in April 2026 following further technical review. The Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessment (QLRA) identifies the Club building as a comparatively lower-risk location for landslides, but confirms that natural hazard risk remains in the area and that further detailed rockfall modelling is required. Temporary mitigation measures have therefore been designed to support the Club’s reoccupation while longer-term options are considered.

The mitigation measures involve the installation of temporary debris protection on the upslope side of the Club's lease boundary. The solution comprises a single row of weighted shipping containers filled with ballast (rock) and is intended to help catch and stop rockfall debris, reducing risk to the Club's car park, access areas and building precinct while longer-term solutions are considered.

The temporary debris protection solution is intended as an interim measure while further technical work is completed. Detailed rockfall modelling, final engineering design parameters and longer-term risk management options for the wider Mauao area are still being developed. The barrier provides a practical reoccupation pathway for the Club while longer-term decisions on land use, mitigation measures and risk management continue to be worked through.

The mitigation measures provide a way for the club to safely reopen while longer-term work continues. This approach allows the club to support members, volunteers and the community ahead of the busy summer season.

Immediately following the severe rainfall event on 22 January, conditions on Mauao were uncertain and landslides had occurred in several areas. At that time, the red placard was applied as a precautionary life-safety measure while engineers and geotechnical specialists assessed potential risks to nearby buildings. This is a normal part of the emergency building assessment process. Since the event, engineers and geotechnical specialists continued monitoring the area and reviewing the available information. The advice indicated that the potential landslide hazard upslope of the Mount Surf Lifeguard Club building represented an existing natural slope hazard, rather than a residual risk directly caused by the January storm. Because the emergency placard system is intended to manage immediate safety risks arising from the event, the building no longer met the threshold for remaining under an emergency placard.

The Pilot Bay boat ramp is open but is located within an active landslide risk area where conditions can change quickly. In some circumstances, access may need to be restricted or closed at short notice to protect public safety. 

The whole area continues to be monitored by geotechnial experts. Users of the Pilot Bay boat ramp will need to be aware that the boat ramp and car park area may be closed at short notice during a Level 3 TARP response, such as following a seismic event or adverse weather, or periodically to support operational works associated with Mauao remediation.

Alternative boat launching facilities are available at Sulphur Point - Marine Park, Whareroa ramp/Harbour Bridge boat ramp, Fergusson Park ramp (tide restrictions), and 6th Avenue ramp (tide restrictions).

Boaties using the ramp should be aware that if conditions change while they are on the water, they may not be able to return to the Pilot Bay boat ramp immediately. Alternative mooring locations are available, and users are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the options below before launching.

To stay informed, register for safety alerts by scanning the QR code at the boat ramp or signing up online.

Sign up to receive safety alerts

If access restrictions are introduced, updates will be provided via text alerts, Council channels and Coastguard notifications. Anyone affected by a closure should contact Tauranga City Council via phone 07 577 7000 or email info@tauranga.govt.nz to advise where their vessel has been moored and to receive further information and updates.

The following temporary mooring options may be available:

• Salisbury Wharf: Temporary berthage for 1 to 2 days. Capacity for approximately three vessels up to 8m in length.
• The Strand pontoons: Temporary berthage for 1 to 2 days. Capacity for up to two 5m vessels per pontoon.
• Beacon Pontoon (Dive Crescent): Temporary berthage for 1 to 2 days. Capacity for up to two 6m vessels.
• Pilot Bay beach: Smaller vessels may be able to beach temporarily on Pilot Bay, depending on tide and sea conditions. This option may not be suitable for all boats.
• Trinity Wharf pontoon: Temporary berthage for up to 1 day, subject to approval from Trinity Wharf. Capacity for approximately three vessels up to 10m in length.
• Sulphur Point boat ramp: Temporary berthage for 1 to 2 days on the outside pontoons. Capacity for up to two vessels up to 8m in length.
• Harbour anchorage: Boats may be able to anchor within the harbour, subject to conditions and applicable navigation requirements.

Please note: Availability may vary depending on site conditions, vessel size and existing demand. Boaties affected by a closure should contact Council 07 577 7000 to advise where their vessel is moored and to receive further updates.

The event damaged utilities (power, water, wastewater), roads, parks, homes, and infrastructure. Landslides occurred at Mangatawa and other locations.

• 28 welfare needs assessments completed
• Temporary accommodation and food support
• Financial and psychosocial assistance
• Support via the Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund

Additional geotechnical modelling work is currently being undertaken to understand the risk to property and key infrastructure related to the Mangatawa Reservoir. This needs to be understood with any mitigation undertaken before full services can be resumed. Ongoing recovery efforts prioritise support for impacted communities, properties affected by landslides, marae and restoration of essential infrastructure. Work to help downgrade or remove building placards also continues.

Following the severe weather event in January 2026, four buildings received red placards (two for Mount Maunganui Holiday Park, one for Mount Hot Pools and one for the Mount Surf Lifeguard Service Club building), while 17 buildings across the city received yellow placards. 

As of 28 April 2026, there are two buildings with red placards (one for Mount Maunganui Holiday Park, one for Mount Hot Pools), and 11 buildings across the city with yellow placards. The red placard on the Mount Surf Lifeguard Service Club building has been downgraded to white, one of the placards on the Mount Maunganui Holiday Park administration building has been downgraded to a yellow placard, and the other 6 buildings across the city which had yellow placards have been downgraded to white.

Monitoring and geotechnical assessments to identify any risk for these buildings continues.

More information on Rapid Building Assessment can be found on the Tauranga City Council website.

• Red Placard - means entry is prohibited as the building may pose a significant risk to public safety, health, and wellbeing. The risk could be from the building itself, from adjacent buildings or from land instability.
• Yellow Placard - a yellow placard means that access to the building is restricted and cannot be used or entered except under supervision for a limited time or on essential business. Part or all the building may have sustained moderate damage, or some areas of the building, neighbouring buildings, or land instability pose a significant risk.
• White Placard - a white placard means that the building is considered safe to occupy and is no longer subject to emergency access restrictions. It does not mean that the building is not damaged.

We recognise the significant impacts the Mauao closure has had on some local businesses and appreciate the challenges that uncertainty has created. Council has continued to support recovery efforts through direct engagement, advocacy, administration of the Mayoral Relief Fund, and by working with businesses, recovery partners and central government agencies while progressing the work required for a safe reopening. We understand certainty and reopening is the biggest support we can provide, so are actively prioritising working towards this.

Promoting Mauao without certainty around access and safety could undermine visitor confidence. Instead, Council is exploring targeted activation activity aligned with what is safely open and planning broader promotional efforts once certainty around access improves. We are working towards the safe reopening of Mauao as quickly as possible.

Mount Maunganui is a vital economic, social and cultural hub for Tauranga. Council’s commitment includes ongoing advocacy with central government, engagement with local businesses and community groups, exploring recovery and activation initiatives, and prioritising the safe restoration of Mauao access due to its central role in the Mount’s success.

The Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund is a locally administered emergency relief fund designed to support people and organisations experiencing urgent hardship following a significant emergency event. The Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund for those who were impacted by the January 2026 severe weather event was made up of central government (Crown) contributions ($200,000) and public and philanthropic donations ($28,340).

Important update: There is no further support expected from central government into the Mayoral Relief Fund. All Crown funding available for this Fund has now been received.

The Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund has now been fully allocated and therefore is not currently active or open for applications. 

Read the media release on the fund's support for those impacted by the January 2026 severe weather event.

• Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund closes after supporting those impacted by severe weather event

Through the fund, a total of $228,340 was distributed to 39 eligible applicants.  

Following a future emergency event, the Mayor may authorise activation of the fund to provide timely support where immediate needs are not fully met through insurance, government assistance, or other available funding sources. The fund is intended to complement other forms of assistance and help address urgent gaps while longer-term recovery support is mobilised.

Should the fund be activated in response to a future emergency event, application forms, eligibility criteria, and guidance information will be published Tauranga Mayoral Relief Fund webpage.

Yes. Tauranga City Council continues to:

• advocate to central government for improved recovery support
• highlight the ongoing impacts on local businesses and communities
• raise concerns where current funding levels do not meet local need.

The purpose of the community survey is to gather insights, perspectives, and values on Mauao and its surrounding areas, building a clear understanding of how the maunga is experienced, valued, and connected to by both local communities and those beyond Tauranga. This work sits alongside, and complements, a wider programme of engagement including community drop-ins, iwi and hapū hui, youth and specialist group discussions, and existing feedback already received. The survey is also designed to reach a broad and geographically diverse audience, enabling an assessment of Mauao’s significance beyond Tauranga, including its importance at a regional and national level.

This information will be used to inform a consideration document for Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council elected members, providing evidence-based insight into the views and aspirations of the wider Tauranga community. The intent is to ensure that future decisions relating to Mauao are well-informed, community-led, and reflective of diverse perspectives. In addition, the findings will support engagement with central government, helping to articulate and evidence the national significance of Mauao as a landmark, and to strengthen the case for recognition, resourcing, and support for ongoing remediation efforts. This includes recognising the wider impacts on the Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Moana communities, including the economic impacts and supporting the long-term protection, restoration, and stewardship of Mauao.

This event was not a typical storm recovery. January’s rainfall caused ongoing and dynamic landslide risk, particularly on Mauao, meaning decisions must be evidence‑based and safety‑led. Before formal recovery planning could begin, Council needed to assess 42 landslides, install real‑time monitoring systems, establish a TARP, and clarify governance and legal responsibilities, including working in partnership with Mauao Trust. These steps are essential to ensure decisions are safe, lawful, and defensible. Work on safety, assessment and remedial options are now being undertaken. Work is now underway to remediate and clear some of the hazards.

Recovery from January’s severe weather event is complex and involves detailed geotechnical investigation, real‑time monitoring, safety planning, and coordination across multiple agencies and partners. Much of this work does not produce new, confirmable information week‑to‑week. Our priority has been to share information only when it is accurate and reliable, particularly where public safety and risk‑to‑life decisions are involved. We recognise that even when there is no change, people want reassurance.

We share regular recovery updates to the community about progress in our Kōrero mai - Let’s talk Tauranga ENewsletter. If you would like to receive these, you can sign up here.

• Mauao Landslide website for updates and reports: www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/mauao-landslide
• Join us at local events where you can learn more about the Recovery work underway – the date and location of event details can be found on our Community event pages.
• Council's ongoing community communications

In the interests of transparency and keeping the public informed, Council is proactively releasing documents associated with the landslide. Publishing documents on this page enables information to be made available in an open and timely fashion, while ensuring the wider community can access the same material.

An external review led by former High Court Judge Paul Davison KC has been completed, and you can read about this here. However, multiple active and independent inquiries are still currently underway, including those conducted by Police (for the Coroner), WorkSafe and a central government inquiry. It is important to allow those processes to run their course, and so Council will not be making any further comment on the information at this time. 

More information can be found at Mauao landslide

• A central government inquiry into regional landslides
• Investigations by Police (for the Coroner) and WorkSafe

The following statement has been provided to Tauranga City Council by the Government Inquiry into the Fatal Landslides in Tauranga:

In March the New Zealand Government announced there would be a Government Inquiry into the Fatal Landslides in Tauranga. In January 2026 eight people died in two landslides in Bay of Plenty. Two people died when a landslide struck a property in Pāpāmoa’s Welcome Bay Road and six died several hours later when a section of Mauao, Mount Maunganui collapsed on to the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. The Government Inquiry operates separately from the Tauranga City Council commissioned external review of Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park landslide. Tauranga City Council acknowledges the Government Inquiry and will provide evidence and support as required. For more information, please visit Government Inquiry into the Fatal Landslides in Tauranga - dia.govt.nz. 

The QLRA concludes that Mauao is an active landslide and rockfall environment, and that these hazards will continue to affect surrounding areas in the future. It identifies the Beachside Holiday Park and Mount Hot Pools as the highest-risk locations and provides the technical evidence Council will use to evaluate future land use, risk management and mitigation options.

The highest-risk areas are the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and Mount Hot Pools. Lower, but still present, landslide and rockfall risks have been identified for the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service building, Adams Avenue, and parts of Pilot Bay.

No. The QLRA does not predict when or where a future landslide will occur. Instead, it assesses the likelihood of landslide and rockfall hazards and the level of risk they may pose over time.

Council is being asked to adopt a risk benchmark (10⁻⁴ annual individual loss-of-life risk) and refer discussions to the Mauao Recovery working group to assess future land use and risk reduction options.

A risk tolerance level of 10⁻⁴ represents an annual individual risk-to-life (‘loss of life’ ) of one in 10,000. The QLRA recommends this benchmark because it is consistent with approaches commonly used in natural hazard risk management and with risk tolerance levels previously adopted by Council. The report considers 10⁻⁴ to provide a reasonable balance between public safety, practicality and cost when assessing future land use and mitigation options. While natural hazard risk can be reduced, it cannot be completely eliminated. A risk tolerance benchmark helps determine what level of residual risk may be considered tolerable and provides a framework for future decision-making. Council is being asked to decide whether 10⁻⁴ should be adopted as that benchmark for the Mauao study area.

The report indicates that engineering solutions alone are unlikely to reduce risk sufficiently. Future management is likely to require a combination of mitigation measures, land use planning, occupancy controls, access restrictions and ongoing monitoring.

While previous rockfall assessments have been completed and are referenced in the QLRA, detailed three-dimensional rockfall modelling has not previously been undertaken for the Mauao study area. The QLRA currently takes a precautionary approach to assessing rockfall risk and recommends more detailed rockfall modelling be undertaken to better understand and refine the potential hazard footprint, understand rockfall behaviour, and to inform effective mitigation design, location, and specifications. This work is currently underway.

The QLRA identifies the Mount Hot Pools as one of the highest-risk locations within the Mauao Study Area due to its proximity to the slopes of Mauao, high visitor numbers, and potential exposure to both landslide and rockfall hazards. The report provides technical information that will help inform future decisions about land use, risk management and mitigation options. The QLRA is only one part of the picture. Future decisions regarding the Mount Hot Pools will also need to consider the repair and stabilisation of the main landslide area at the campground (CG1), with further geotechnical investigations underway to improve understanding of this landslide and the factors driving slope instability. No decisions about the future of the facility have been made.

No decisions have been made. The report is about understanding the risks and evaluating future options, not deciding the future of any facility.

The Mount Hot Pools site remains affected by the main landslide area at the campground (CG1). Further geotechnical investigations are underway to improve understanding of this landslide and the factors driving slope instability. This information will help inform future decisions about long-term risk management and mitigation options. The Hot Pools site remains within the current exclusion zone while work continues to determine the most appropriate approach to repairing and stabilising the landslide area. Once the site moves to Level 2 of the Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP), subject to safety and risk assessments, opportunities may exist to undertake clean-up activities in parts of the site, such as the car park area, while longer-term decisions continue to be considered.

A Trigger Action Response Plan defines specific actions to take when pre-determined conditions or “triggers” are met in an area, helping to manage risks and respond effectively.

Mauao Landslide - Geotechnical Response Guide (503kb pdf)

A Quantitative Landslide Risk Assessment includes analysis of life safety risk in the event of a further landslide. The methodology for undertaking the assessment is set out in the Australian Geomechanics Society Guidelines for Landslide Risk Management 2007.