Mt Maunganui landslide the kind of disaster you hope never comes, Tauranga mayor says

Sunday, 25 January 2026

As mayor, you know a disaster like the Mt Maunganui landslide could happen one day, and “hope with all your heart” that it doesn’t, Tauranga City mayor Mahé Drysdale says.

There was no rule book for an event like this one, he told the Waikato Times from outside He Maimai Aroha Community Care Centre, which had been set up for people to reflect and pay tribute to the victims of the Mt Maunganui slip,

He said the community is grieving alongside the families of the six people killed in the Mt Maunganui slip and it was “absolutely humbling to see how the community have galvanized behind the families”.

Drysdale is not the first in his family to deal with a slip on Mt Maunganui. His grandfather, Bob Owens, was mayor of Tauranga in 1977 -- the year a large landslide occurred in the same area above the campsite.

Asked if Owens had ever talked to him about the slip, Drysdale said he had not.

“It’s something that as a mayor you know may one day come - but you really just hope with all your heart you never have to face a situation like this.”

He had been in a meeting with other Tauranga City councillors when he first heard about the slip from clips posted online.

“When we saw it on on video and on social media, we knew it was serious, but it wasn't until we arrived that we understood the scale and you how serious it really was.”

Asked why the campsite was not evacuated despite a history of landslides in the area and signs the mountain was giving way hours before the slip occurred, Drysdale said it was a question which would be answered in due course.

“It's something that certainly we're aware of and as the weeks and months go on, we'll want to look back and look at exactly what we did or didn't know, what we should have known, and answer some of the questions…there will be certainly some learnings out of this.”

On Friday night, Tauranga City Council announced an independent review into what happened before the mountainside collapsed. The council has not yet determined which firm would oversee the inquiry.

“That will be very public because there are families, there is a community, and there is plenty of other parties that want to know the answers to some really legitimate questions,” Drysdale said.

Pressed on what the review would encompass, he said the scope was still being determined but would focus on the events leading up to the slip.

“Our priority at the moment is returning the loved ones of those that are missing people, and that will remain our focus until all six of those people have been found and removed from Mauao and returned to their families.”

“Once we get to that point, then we will as quickly as we possibly can make sure that we stand this review up so we have answers as soon as we possibly can.”