Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of the Tauranga metropolitan area, located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harbour Bridge in 1988, which connects Mount Maunganui to Tauranga's central business district.
Mount Maunganui is also the name of the large lava dome which was formed by the upwelling of rhyolite lava about two to three million years ago. It is officially known by its Māori name Mauao, but is colloquially known in New Zealand simply as The Mount.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "large mountain" for Maunganui.
Geography
Mount Maunganui is located atop a sand bar that connects Mauao to the mainland, a geographical formation known as a tombolo. Because of this formation, the residents of Mount Maunganui have both a harbour beach (Pilot Bay) and an ocean beach with great surf, within a short distance. At the base of Mauao, the distance between the harbour and ocean side is a couple of blocks.
The ocean beach has Mauao or Mount Maunganui at its western end, and a man made land bridge connecting Moturiki Island at its eastern end.
Adjacent to Mount Maunganui on its south-eastern edge (from Sandhurst Drive onwards) is Papamoa Beach, another very large suburb of Tauranga. Papamoa Beach has a slightly larger population than Mount Maunganui, but doesn't have as many businesses as Mount Maunganui. Both suburbs are distinctly geographically separate from the rest of Tauranga by the Tauranga Harbour; two bridges (SH2 and SH29) and the winding Welcome Bay Road are the only connections by land to the central business district.
Mauao (The Mount) is a large lava dome which rises above the town. According to Maori legend, this hill was a pononga [slave] to a mountain called Otanewainuku. The conical headland which gives the town its name is in height, and dominates the mostly flat surrounding countryside. It was formerly a Māori pā, and the remains of trenches can be seen in the ridges, as well as ancient shell middens. Today, it is open to the public year-round, and is a popular place to either walk around, or climb up. From the summit, a good stretch of coastline can be seen in either direction, as well as the Kaimai Range to the west.
Demographics
Mount Maunganui covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Mount Maunganui had a population of 6,510 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 696 people (12.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,176 people (22.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,724 households, comprising 3,264 males and 3,249 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female, with 918 people (14.1%) aged under 15 years, 1,332 (20.5%) aged 15 to 29, 3,153 (48.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,101 (16.9%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.2% European/Pākehā, 13.3% Māori, 1.4% Pacific peoples, 3.2% Asian, and 3.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 20.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.8% had no religion, 32.1% were Christian, 0.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.6% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,584 (28.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 675 (12.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,449 people (25.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,090 (55.3%) people were employed full-time, 837 (15.0%) were part-time, and 141 (2.5%) were unemployed.
Politics
Over the years, Mount Maunganui had suffered a number of attempts to amalgamate it with Tauranga but had fought effectively to remain independent until the 1989 local government reforms.
During 1974,Bob Owens was Mayor of both Mount Maunganui and Tauranga, a unique situation in the annals of local government in New Zealand. Mr Owens made no secret of the fact that he favoured the joining of the two municipalities. The election of 1974 was fought on this issue and Owens was defeated in the polls in Mount Maunganui with a landslide victory to Mr L. Kelvin O'Hara, the youngest person elected to the position of mayor in New Zealand, who challenged him on the issue, and other environmental issues with the catch cry "why share a mayor?"