Tauranga City Council's confirmed staff were working around Mount Maunganui on the morning a landslide buried six people at the campground.

Surrounding cordons were reduced this morning, on day seven of work to recover those buried.

A rāhui's been declared for parts of Pilot Bay and Mount Main Beach and the cordoned search area.

Mayor Mahé Drysdale says the council's independent review will help narrow down which staff were in the area - and their jobs.

"They were in the process of closing Mount Maunganui and putting fences up to stop the public from going into the Maunga, and that's because there were a lot of slips." 

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