Council review finds fatal failures but leaves Mauao co-governors for wider inquiry

Summarised by Centrist

A damning review has found Tauranga City Council failed to act on decades of warnings before the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide, but its terms prevented findings about the iwi trust and joint board responsible for administering the mountain.

However, the wider government inquiry expressly includes the Mauao Trust and will examine what relevant agencies knew, what responsibilities they held and whether they should have done more.

Six people died when a landslide came down Mount Maunganui, also known as Mauao, and swept into the council-owned Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on 22 January.

Retired High Court judge Paul Davison KC found the danger had been repeatedly identified and the deaths could probably have been prevented.

“This was not a hazard that was unknown, hidden, or beyond the reach of foresight,” Davison said.

“For more than two decades, one competent consultant after another identified the landslide hazard to the campground, located it on the very slope that failed, and explained, sometimes in stark terms, what the consequences of a landslide occurring could be.”

A Trigger Action Response Plan was recommended in late 2023 and again in mid-2025 but was not implemented.

“Reports identifying a risk to life were received, filed, discussed, forwarded, and then left,” he said. 

The official review focused on the council and its Emergency Operations Centre. Its terms prohibited findings about the actions of other bodies, except where they were relevant to council decisions.

The landslide began on Mauao Historic Reserve, which is owned by the Mauao Trust on behalf of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga.

The mountain is administered by Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao, a joint board with four iwi-appointed and four council-appointed representatives. The Auditor-General has described the arrangement as “50:50 shared responsibility”, while the reserve management plan says the joint body leads the management of Mauao.

The campground below is separately owned and operated by the council. The council also held the relevant reports and carried the practical responsibility for preparing campground staff and ordering an evacuation.

The council review cannot provide a complete account of what the Mauao Trust or iwi representatives on the joint board knew or did.

Those questions fall within the government inquiry into the fatal Tauranga landslides. Its terms expressly list the Mauao Trust as a relevant agency and allow it to examine other organisations and landowners involved.

Read more at RNZ

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