Officials defend speed of track repairs on Mount

The storm on Anniversary Weekend caused slips on Mount Maunganui. Photo / Supplied

Tauranga City Council is defending the time it is taking to repair walking tracks on Mount Maunganui and is hopeful people will be able to walk halfway round within a fortnight.

But work repairing other tracks is expected to take several months after rain last week caused nearly 100 slips, excluding the public from the popular landmark.

The council has faced criticism about the closures, including on the Facebook page of Tauranga MP Simon Bridges, where some locals are wondering what the hold-up is for.

Greenpark School principal Graeme Lind wrote: "You would think with a major tourist attraction and massive local use they would pull out all stops to have it rectified much earlier."

But Tauranga City Council park rangers team leader Warren Aitken said repairs were proceeding as fast as possible.

"We're basically working as fast as we can. Some of those slips are major and they're going to take some time to repair and to look at solutions to repair them. I think people don't really realise the significance of those slips and how big they are and how much damage they cause. The fact that you can't see them from the land makes it even more difficult."

Mr Aitken said he hoped people would be able to walk about halfway around the base track from the Main Beach side and up the steep steps, the Waikorire track, within the next two weeks. But he said the remaining tracks could take months to clear.

"There are at least three or four slips that are going to involve some fairly major engineering to fix. It's not only just stabilising the slips themselves but it's also reinstating the track. In some instances the track's been completely washed away."

Contractors have estimated that the main slip, which people can see on the track closest to Pilot Bay, involves about 300 cubic metres of dirt.

"There's quite a lot of damage and when you look at it, you think: 'How are we going to fix this?'."

The slipped areas will be replanted with pohutukawa to help stabilise soil in a bid to prevent future falls and, because Mauao is sacred to Maori, any fallen dirt will be redeposited on the mountain.