Season 20 of Channel Nine’s hit reality series The Block has officially wrapped filming on Phillip Island ahead of its auction later this year.
And while the participants have flown home, photos on social media show the construction site still under construction, with an angry neighbor saying Yahoo lifestyle the area resembles a ‘bomb site’.
An insider told the publication that construction workers have been booked for the nine weeks between filming and the show’s premiere to ensure the properties are ready to go on the market.
“(The Block) Phillip Island needs a lot of work before the five new houses can be auctioned,” the source said.
‘Filming with the participants finished two weeks ago and yet the builders are still busy finishing the communal areas.’
“It will take weeks to get all the space between the houses ready and that will take some time to get in order. This happens often. But this year it will take a lot of finessing,” they added.
The series will premiere in August, after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Season 20 of Channel Nine’s hit reality series The Block has officially wrapped filming on Phillip Island ahead of its auction later this year, but according to a neighbor the construction site still looks like a ‘bomb site’
It is not the first time the construction site has caused chaos.
Last month, Ny Breaking Australia saw huge platforms being used to transport palm trees to the construction site, which is located on a former resort in Cowes along a narrow lane ironically called Justice Road.
Construction workers descended on the site in February, causing an endless parade of traffic for some residents along a road also used by busloads of tourists heading to the nightly penguin parade.
One resident told Ny Breaking Australia the traffic problems were mainly caused by large trucks carrying The Block’s building materials being forced to queue along the street.
An insider told the publication that construction workers have been booked for the nine weeks between filming and the show’s premiere to ensure the properties are ready to go on the market.
They could queue for up to three hours, locals said, because there was only one entrance in and out of the property where the houses were being built.
The trucks often stood idle on the road for hours as their engines spewed fumes into the air, residents claimed.
“It’s not ideal, but what can you do?” said a female neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous.
“We can’t wait to see the backs of them.”
Ny Breaking Australia spoke to a number of residents of the controversial construction site who have been dealing with the consequences of construction over the past three months.
Some claimed that construction workers initially massacred their lawns by driving their trucks over the curb, but they said that problem subsided during the three-month ordeal.
“(The Block) Phillip Island needs a lot of work before the five new houses can be auctioned,” the source said. ‘The filming with the participants finished two weeks ago and yet the builders are still busy finishing the communal areas’
But local construction traffic continued to annoy them, most said, especially because of the way trucks enter and leave the site.
“I’ve almost had two head-on collisions because the traffic controllers aren’t doing their job properly,” says another resident.
The elderly local was seen staring at the entrance to The Block as trucks entered and exited the site.
“I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I don’t want to have an accident either,” he said.
Meanwhile, producers of the series have been putting up billboards advertising the stunning renovations for months ahead of the final auction.
It’s not the first time the site has caused chaos. Last month, Ny Breaking Australia saw huge platforms haul palm trees to the site, which is located on a former resort in Cowes along a narrow street ironically called Justice Road.
The Block host Scott Cam filmed on Phillip Island last week
The Block hosts Shelley Craft at its construction site on Phillip Island
One boasts House 2, a two-story building with an ultra-modern design and a high pitched roof.
It also has a sculpted front garden with ‘tropical’ features including an array of enormous palm trees.
A billboard advertising House 3 offers a design very similar to House 2, and also features a lush garden and wooden finishes.
Trucks seen along Justice Road to The Block last month
Other first images have emerged of the massive building site, which originally housed nine houses, a barbecue pavilion and a children’s playground.
One photo shows the layout where the new homes are part of a compound with access to a swimming pool and a tennis court and bordered by a street on one side and a row of trees on the other. The Block’s location is also next to a park.
All the new renovations seem to be of two-storey houses, on large blocks and fitted with solar panels.
A company owned by Channel Nine bought the property, the Island Cove Villas, for a whopping $9.5 million for this year’s season of The Block.