Several slips on Mauao over the weekend have been “really, really sad” for the local community, says Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford.

The Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park landslide, which killed six people in January, reactivated, prompting a road closure at Adams Ave, between Pilot Bay and the Maunganui Rd roundabout.

Tauranga City Council warned the latest movements reinforced concerns that the mountain remains “highly unstable”.

Recovery manager Charlie Rahiri yesterday said the slip was a “major regression”.

“Visibly you can see it. I mean, there’s no hiding the fact that the slip has moved and you can also see it’s probably still active.”

Rutherford told Newstalk ZB’s Andrew Dickens that seeing the deadly slip’s reactivation was “really gutting”.

“[It’s] Really, really sad for our local community here in Mount Maunganui and the wider Bay of Plenty.”

The mountain was a massive part of the community, he said.

“They’re going to be doing some assessments and inspections, and we’re going to continue to press on to reopen the mount safely in the future.”

A risk that Mauao might never be as stable as it was before the fatal January slip persists, he said.

“But I trust the experts that are doing the phenomenal work on there at the moment who’ve been working on the summit track and working on other parts of Mount Maunganui as well to get it safely reopened in the future.”

The past six months have been challenging for businesses in the Mount, so any support people can give would be appreciated, he said.

The Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park landslide, which killed six people in January, reactivated, prompting a road closure.

“If I could send a clear message to anybody listening today, I want to tell them Mount Maunganui itself, the mountain may be closed, but the Mount Maunganui area and main street and shops are well and truly open...

“Any support people can give to our local cafes, restaurants or, you know, local businesses in the area, we really do appreciate any support for them.”

Council estimated about 8000 cubic metres of earth had shifted over the weekend. The January landslide involved about 12,000 cubic metres.

News of the slips came after an earthquake struck south of Taumarunui in the Manawatū-Whanganui region yesterday, with tens of thousands of people reporting feeling the shake.

The quake hit 5km south of Taumarunui at 4.51am, at a depth of 9km.

GeoNet said the quake had been felt across most of the North Island.