Inside The Block’s charm offensive to appease disgruntled locals

The Block’s executive producer Julian Cress has spoken out about claims the show site is ‘cursed’, revealing how the show is trying to keep the peace with ‘disgruntled’ neighbours.

The new season is currently being filmed at Charming Street in Melbourne’s Hampton East.

The show has made headlines in recent weeks following the McCafe disaster and the “illegal” parking scandal.

According to Cress, most of the neighbors are on board with the filming of the show on their street.

He told TV tonight“I’d say I know 50 of the neighbors well enough to say ‘Good morning,’ and I know their names.”

He added: ’99 percent of them are very happy that we are here. I can think of two neighbours, one who doesn’t like us being here and another who’s started a Facebook page… but even he won’t say he’s not happy about it.’

Cress added that after the McCafe drama, they gave the neighbors wine and invited them to The Block site when it was done.

“So we sent them all a bottle of wine and said, ‘We’re sorry, we only have a few weeks to go.’ We invite you everywhere for a drink and a free coffee if you can.”

He said he found the cursed claims “hilarious.”

It comes after it was revealed that residents around ‘The Block’ are upset after a makeshift McCafe across the street suddenly stopped serving free coffee – and complaints are growing about traditional parking in front of their driveways.

The McDonald’s McCafe is built on the front porch of a house directly across the street from the houses being renovated for the popular Channel Nine series.

The stall had been in place for the past few weeks handing out free drinks to craftsmen and residents alike until earlier this month when the Macca’s benevolence towards neighbors suddenly ended.

The controversy follows reports that neighbors are still angry over access to their homes being blocked by those working on the show.

A resident near the filming location shared their anger after one of ‘The Block’ stars ‘illegally’ blocked access to their private driveway.

The community member shared a photo of the incident on the 2023 Charming St ‘The Block’ Facebook page.”

The photo showed scaffolding and fencing around the grounds of ‘The Block’, along with several traditional vehicles parked in the street.

“This is right after I tried with The Block guys because a certain star illegally parked his car in the parking zone again, and because there was a car parked on our side of the street, it was impossible for me to get in. come up the driveway,” the resident declared.

“If you know the area, you can see that the car has moved to another part of the non-standing area. This was all after I emailed a few days ago [ago] to the builders and [executive producer] Julian Cress asked them to tell people not to. Come on guys… do better!’

In March, Daily Mail Australia reported that residents were angry with Cress himself after he parked his $500,000 Porsche in the street.

Some residents were also angry when Channel Nine asked them to move their car so that a 1950s commercial for the hit reality TV show could be filmed.

“The Channel Nine producers who handled it were nothing short of a joke,” said one resident.

“He literally told residents to move our cars, but he could park wherever he wanted.”