It’s one of Channel Nine’s highest rating shows.
But shooting the latest season of The Block could be in trouble as the series films near a St Kilda street locals say is plagued by drug users.
This year’s season involves renovating former halfway house the Gatwick hotel, located close to where radio host Kate Langbroek was assaulted by a ‘crazed’ robber.
What does this mean for The Block? Channel Nine reality TV show filming at Gatwick hotel just metres from infamous St Kilda street deemed too DANGEROUS for garbage men
Filming of The Block in St Kilda began last month, with former netball champion Bianca Chatfield among this year’s contestants, News Corp reported.
This year renovators have been tasked with transforming notorious half-way house the Gatwick hotel into luxurious apartments.
The building, dubbed ‘Hell Hotel’, is currently surrounded by black cladding as filming takes place.
Channel Nine purchased the Gatwick last year for $10 million, with council plans revealing the series plans to build eight apartments and add an extra fourth level to the building.
New season underway: Filming of The Block in St Kilda began last month, with former netball champion Bianca Chatfield among this year’s contestants
Biggest job yet: This year renovators have been tasked with transforming notorious half-way house the Gatwick hotel into luxurious apartments
Ratings juggernaut: The Block is one of Channel Nine’s most popular shows. Pictured last season’s contestants
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
Locals say Little Grey Street in St Kilda has turned into a ‘vile manifestation of humanity that’s abandoned itself’ since the closure of the nearby Gatwick.
A maintenance company which had been placing bins out for collection on the street for the past decade has now deemed the area too dangerous to service.
The contractor told the Herald Sun the ‘last straw’ came when one of his staff members was abused by ‘a nutter running up and down with a syringe in his arm’.
Locals say Little Grey Street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda has turned into a ‘vile manifestation of humanity that’s abandoned itself’
A maintenance company which had been placing bins out for collection on Little Grey Street for the past decade has now deemed the area too dangerous to service. A used syringe is pictured on the street
Locals say the situation on Little Grey Street has worsened since the closure of the nearby Gatwick – a notorious half-way house dubbed the ‘Hell Hotel’
‘We do a lot of work in and around the city… but we’ve never had an issue, ever – but we did in Little Grey St. They’re just off their nut and running out of control,’ he said.
‘I’ve seen almost every little back nook and cranny around the city during my job but I’ve never seen anything like this… The violence is really troubling and my drivers feel physically unsafe there.’
Radio personality Kate, who was allegedly violently attacked at her St Kilda home last Friday, blamed the spiraling crime on the notorious boarding house The Regal.
‘There’s drug dealing blatantly in the street. There’s a trail of zombies going up there to get their drugs or whatever,’ Kate, who lives a street from the boarding house, told Nine’s Today program on Thursday.
Kate said she was recently walking her children to school when a man attacked another with a ‘Glasgow kiss’.
‘He was walking around the corner with his headphones in and he got headbutted in broad daylight. It’s crazy,’ she told The Age.
Radio personality Kate Langbroek (pictured showing her injuries) was allegedly violently attacked outside her St Kilda home last Friday
There’s a trail of zombies going up there to get their drugs or whatever,’ Langbroek said of the street (a man is seen walking down it)
A woman is pictured giving a two-finger solute on Melbourne’s notorious Little Grey Street on Thursday afternoon
One Little Grey Street resident previously reported being told by a drug addict injecting herself ‘I’ll squirt blood on you’, while another reported a sex worker exposing herself to a 12-year-old boy, according to the Herald Sun.
The rising crime rate has prompted calls for tougher policing and the closure of the 49-room boarding house.
Kate said the government has been unable to solve the problem.
‘As I said to our local member Martin Foley, the vulnerable now are normal people who are trying to walk their kids to school through this hell hole that is of your creation,’ she said.
‘You have done this to our neighbourhood where people are trying to live lives.’
‘My taxes are supporting this guy who is trying to kick my front door in, and my taxes are paying for the cops to come to try and sort him out, and then my taxes are paying judges and magistrates who are letting them out. It is not right.’
On Wednesday she tweeted to Mr Foley: ‘Thanks for your call yesterday. This is the bruise I sustained trying to keep that ‘vulnerable’ resident from kicking our front door in on Friday night.
One Little Grey Street resident previously reported being told by a drug addict injecting herself ‘I’ll squirt blood on you’. A man is seen throwing a bucket of water over an unknown substance
Kate said she was recently walking her children to school when she saw a man attack another (neither is pictured) with a ‘Glasgow kiss’
One Little Grey Street (pictured) resident previously reported a sex worker exposing herself to a 12-year-old boy
Local resident Asher Wolf, who has lived in the area for almost a decade, blamed housing issues on the increased trouble in a suburb she admits has always been ‘sketchy’.
‘People who have lived here a long time knew to avoid Grey Street and other areas, but now we have an increased number of tourists and Airbnbs,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘For me, I think it really boils down to the amount of housing available. I see more homeless people than ever on the streets and a queue out the door of the housing office every morning.
‘People were pretty easy for social workers to access when they were in The Gatwick, but now you’ll find them in the side streets living next to houses like Kate’s and we’ll see more incidents like that.’
‘As I said to our local member Martin Foley, the vulnerable now are normal people who are trying to walk their kids to school through this hell hole that is of your creation,’ Kate said
Mr Foley announced on Thursday the boarding house would be shut down and would make way for a women’s refuge
Kate said the government had so far been unable to solve the violence and drug problems plaguing St Kilda
The maintainance contractor who put bins out on the street said he stopped working in the area out of fear for the saftey of his staff
‘Children inside. The real vulnerable are the decent citizens of St Kilda. We await your action.’
Just hours later, Mr Foley announced the boarding house would be shut down and would make way for a women’s refuge.
‘Today I was pleased to announce that we will fund an application to close the Little Grey St boarding house. New CCTV will also help boost community safety,’ he tweeted.
‘We will refit the Little Grey St premises to house older women facing housing and homelessness stress in our community.’
Many locals has blamed the violence and rampant drug use on the street’s notorious boarding house, The Regal (pictured)
The ‘last straw’ came when one of the bin contractor’s staff members was abused by ‘a nutter running up and down with a syringe in his arm’
The rising crime rate has prompted calls for tougher policing and the closure of the 49-room boarding house at number 3
A man is scene walking down Little Grey Street in St Kilda on Thursday afternoon
Many locals have blamed the crime rise on the closure of the notorious Gatwick Hotel. They say its former residents are now found on the streets