By Justin Tuburan
The Coromandel’s holiday park sites could be under review after a damning report into the Mt Maunganui landslide.
Thames-Coromandel District Council last month initiated an independent review into how the peninsula’s identified risks are communicated, escalated and acted upon
TCDC Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie says “it is a powerful reminder that hazard and risk information needs to be built into council-wide operations. It doesn’t matter how good our science is if we don’t use the information to guide our plans and decisions”.
She also notes that Davison’s findings aren’t necessarily transferable to the Coromandel.
“It is important to note that the Davidson report was commissioned by and for Tauranga City, and many of the recommendations are specific to Tauranga City’s own structure and processes”.
The Davison Report into the January landslide which killed 6 at a holiday park at the base of Mt Maunganui revealed “deeply systemic flaws” over decades by Tauranga City Council to act on warnings of the risk to the area.
The review has led to TCC Chief Executive Marty Grenfell resigning from his position at the end of last month, after initially refusing.
The review states that “the tragedy was, in the end, preventable”, and summarises that much of the failures resulted from “a system that enabled an identified risk to life to remain unowned, un-escalated and unmanaged”.
The report identifies specific recommendations for TCC such as establishing single, clear ownership and responsibility for every identified life-threatening risk and natural hazard.
It also calls for the mandating of Trigger Action Response Plans (TARPs) for populated sites with a medium-to-high risk, and training for staff and site operators to identify early warning signs.
The review also highlights the confusion over responsibility, where the landslide hazard on the mountain fell under the administration of The Mauao Trust, while the risk fell on the campground, managed by Council.
TCDC will look to investigate the risk of these administrative gaps and emergency response plans in the coming months.
Lawrie says the district may not be vulnerable to the issues identified in the report because Tauranga City Council is a much larger organisation.
“As a smaller council, many of our teams are based close to the parts of the district we serve”.
She says “that means we have faster and more direct access to what is happening on the ground, especially when something changes”.
As seen with the January 2026 storm event, the region is prone to major weather events.
NZTA reported 20 locations on State Highway 25 where the road was reduced to one lane.
Multiple slips were reported from around the region with TCDC issuing 97 placards to affected properties – 8 red, 43 yellow, 46 white.
Lawrie says “we have a long exposed coastline, a wide range of hazard risks and significant vulnerabilities”.
She adds that “the goal is not to eliminate risk – that’s not possible – but to use what we know about those risks to support safer, more resilient people and places”.
The findings of TCDC’s review are expected to be returned to councillors early next year.
