Three further slips at Mauao, Mount Maunganui during weekend

A landslip risk assessment in due back imminently after three slips on Mount Maunganui within a 48-hour period over the weekend.

They come six months after a big landslide fell onto Mount Maunganui Holiday Park in January, killing six people.

Tauranga City Council recovery manager Charlie Rahiri earlier said the alert had been lifted to Level 3, leading to the closing of Adams Avenue at the base of the mountain between Pilot Bay and the Maunganui Road roundabout.

There had been "a major regression" at the site of the original landslide, extending 20 metres with a runout of 100 metres, he said.

The latest landslide had not extended as far as the original runout but the material was "saturated, mobile and fluid", he said.

Speaking to Morning Report on Monday, Rahiri said there had always been an element of expectation of further slips of the mount, highlighting the high risk environment.

It proved the mountain remains very unstable, he said.

Experts were monitoring the mountain closely, calling Friday's slip "significant" - occurring after just 3mm of rain.

"We're just very fortunate that the entire area inside the campground is closed."

It was not known if Saturday's slip had been triggered by the early morning earthquake near Taimaranui.

"I guess the mountain's just telling us that there's still a large amount of vulnerability there."

Rahiri said there are warnings when slips occur on the mountain from monitors on it.

Slips trigger an alarm system that was activated over the weekend.

For now, Rahiri said the council was relying heavily on the technical advice of experts.

A quantative landslide risk assessment was "imminent" and would tell the council about the mountain's stability and the risk to life.

This would provide options around remediation, he said.

Although a large area was closed due to risk from the slips, Rahiri reminded the local community that businesses in the area remained open.

He encouraged people to support them.

"It's a tough time," Rahiri said.

He said there wasn't much the council could do other than encourage people to get down there and make them aware they were working as fast as possible - but it was going to take time.