Mauao horowhenua

Mauao Landslide

Essential updates, information and links related to the Mauao recovery work.

We acknowledge the significance of Mauao and the impact the tragic event on Thursday, 22 January 2026 has had on the families who have lost their loved ones, tangata whenua, Mount Maunganui residents and businesses, and the wider community.

More information about the External Reviews currently underway

Latest update: 28 July 2026

Recent monitoring has confirmed renewed movement within the main landslide area on Mauao above the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. There have been some regression movements in the existing landslides on Mauao, including a significant regression of the landslide above the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on the evening of Friday 24 July.

Geotechnical specialists have identified fresh cracking and evidence of groundwater emerging from the slope, both of which indicate the affected area remains highly susceptible to further movement. As a result, the landslide is considered active and ongoing.

Current safety controls, including the closure of Adams Avenue, will remain in place for the foreseeable future while experts continue to assess the site and monitor conditions. Residents and visitors are asked to respect all closures, barriers and signage and avoid entering restricted areas.

Regular updates are also provided on Council's Facebook page.

Watch a message from Charlie Rahiri, Recovery Manager about the reactivated landslips

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Stay up to date

Watch our video of the hikoi led by Mauao Trust which reveals impact of Mauao damage
Updates and videos of remediation work on Mauao are shared on council Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.
For regular updates on the Mauao Recovery work please sign up for our Kōrero mai - Let’s talk Tauranga Newsletter

Answers to questions about how council and our partners are working towards reopening Mauao

Key information

Mauao remains closed to protect public safety.
Mauao is currently a high-hazard environment with 42 identified landslides: Map of the landslides and scale of these (4.8mb pdf)
Permanent fencing has been installed to keep people out of the affected area, as the site remains hazardous. Geotechnical engineers are continuing to assess risks surrounding several structures at the base of Mauao.
Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park is closed until further notice.
Mount Hot Pools is closed until further notice.
Slip alert alarm system in place at Mount Hot Pools and Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park area.
The Pilot Bay boat ramp is currently closed.
The Mall, Maunganui Road and Marine Parade are open to vehicles and pedestrians. Stay up to date with event road closures here.
Adams Avenue is currently closed to vehicles but is open to pedestrians.
In the event of a tsunami, please evacuate to Blake Park / Bay Oval.
A 30-metre exclusion zone around the base/shore of Mauao remains in place.

Learn more about what is happening

Find out about current work underway, information about reopening, updates to the community and background information by selecting the headings below

Current work underway

Monday 4 May 2026 marked an important step in the beginning of the restoration work on Mauao with a formal blessing on site, enabling re-entry onto the maunga for the commencement of essential repair works onsite. The blessing was a partnership between Tauranga City Council, the Mauao Trust and Ngā Poutiriao o Mauao, reflecting the shared responsibility and kaitiakitanga of Mauao.

Watch our video of the blessing

Initial damage and safety assessments have been completed by specialist geotechnical engineers. Current work is focused on:

Detailed assessment of landslip locations and their severity. Understanding ongoing instability, drainage issues and future risk.
Identifying which areas might be remediated first and which are more complex.
Developing options for repair rather than simple cleanup, particularly where track structure has been lost

This work builds on the initial assessment phase and moves toward planning practical next steps.

Landslide repair work progresses

Tauranga City Council and Mauao Trust are progressing well towards a staged reopening of the tracks on Mauao. Access will not look the same as we are used to, and Council and Mauao Trust are working together to determine what this will look like.

Any decisions about reopening tracks are informed by assessment of landslide risk and the safety of visitors to Mauao. Access to the mountain 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.

The remediation works on Motukauri (summit 4WD) track landslides are complete, but there is still more work to ready the track for public use. Repair work has begun on Te Ara Tūtanga (base) track. This area is complex and a high-hazard environment due the size and scale of the landslides. Work is now underway to enable access to the landslides, which includes clean-up of the track and beach areas, so remediation work can start.

Check out some before and after photos: Photos of slip repair works (846kb pdf)

Reopening information

January’s severe weather event caused extensive damage to Mauao, including multiple landslides across the maunga. Council’s goal is to return Mauao to public use, but only when it is safe and sustainable to do so.

Council is working closely with the Mauao Trust on all planning and decision-making for the mountain and surrounding areas. This partnership ensures cultural values, guardianship responsibilities and public safety are properly considered alongside technical and engineering assessments.

Before Mauao can reopen, Council must be confident that public safety risks can be managed. This includes ensuring that:

Experts are confident the risk of further slips, rockfall and track failure can be managed.
Decisions are made about what remediation work is required, how complex it will be, and how it will be funded
Council continues to work alongside the Mauao Trust and tangata whenua, who are key partners in decisions about the maunga.
Ongoing independent reviews and investigations provide the information needed to support a safe reopening.

Council is also considering a partial or staged reopening of the maunga, which could include some sections of the base track and summit routes reopening earlier than others. Any partial reopening would depend on safety assessments and engineering advice. Access will remain restricted until risks are acceptable.

Community updates

Mauao Community update - Thursday 30 April from 5-7pm.

Read the Recovery Update from the Mayor and Councillors - March 2025 update

Background Information

On 21 January 2026, a state of emergency was declared across the Bay of Plenty region. Tauranga experienced extreme rainfall, with 199.3mm recorded on 21 January and a further 96.1mm on 22 January. This severe weather caused widespread damage across our city and region, including multiple landslides and damage to infrastructure.

Mauao, our city’s treasured maunga (mountain), was particularly affected. Forty-two landslides occurred and, tragically, a large landslide above Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park claimed the lives of six people. Our thoughts remain with those who lost their lives across the region on 22 January, and with their families and loved ones. The devastating impacts of this weather event will continue to be felt by our city and our people for many years to come.

Further across Tauranga, our city experienced widespread impacts, including a major landslide at Mangatawa, localised landslides, flooding, infrastructure damage, and multiple road closures.

Police officially stood down their recovery operation at the Mauao landslide site on 1 February 2026. Following the handover from police, the site was officially moved into a recovery phase led by the Tauranga City Council to demobilise the recovery work, assess damage and work towards the safe reopening of Mauao.

Following the severe weather event, specialist geologists and geotechnical engineers began assessing damage on Mauao to understand what had occurred, identify safety risks, and determine the best options to address at-risk areas. Tauranga City Council continues to work in partnership with Mauao Trust on any decisions relating to the maunga.

The Rāhui placed by Tangata Whenua over parts of Waikorire (Pilot Bay) and Hīnekite (Mount Main Beach) following January’s severe weather event has been lifted.

Key documents

Tauranga Recovery Plan

The Tauranga Recovery Plan is high level blueprint which sets a pathway for recovery works across the city. It’s a live and iterative document. An iwi recovery plan will be shortly finalised.