Noel Edmonds relocated to New Zealand in 2019 and is now accused of ‘colonising’ a community there.
Last year, the 74-year-old former Deal Or No Deal host decided to relocate to a tiny town, spending £15 million on land and calling a 17th-century bar The B**ger Inn.
Originally, Mr Blobby and his wife planned to purchase a five-bedroom home on an 11-hectare estate in Matakana, north of Auckland, in 2021.
However, they migrated last year to the remote Ngtmoti hamlet, which has a population of only 2,500 people. Noel has now been accused of ‘taking over’ the peaceful community after being granted permission to acquire 12 houses and construct a restaurant, shop, and coffee shop on his property, all under his River Haven estate.
Stuff, a New Zealand-based media source, researched Edmonds’ presence in the town and discovered that anonymous locals are upset about Edmonds’ ‘colonisation’ of their region.
Two couples Noel and his wife Elizabeth Davies met in Matakana moved with them to the South Island hamlet of Edmonds’ home and worked on the estate.
Many joked that the former Breakfast Show presenter was forming a “commune.”
Commune or not, Edmonds is said to offer a variety of X-rated beverages in his controversially named tavern, including a beer called T*ts Up and a ‘women favourite’ dubbed the Dickens Cider.
According to the magazine, while Edmonds describes this as ‘Kiwi’ comedy, other residents find all of this ‘Benny Hill crap’ to be inappropriate.
Locals are unhappy, despite the lovely background of woodland and snow-capped mountains, and would only speak to the magazine anonymously, considering the close-knit community in which they must coexist with Edmonds.
‘He’s got this attitude… about how he’s improved the place and made it amazing – it was already amazing,’ one woman said.
‘I just feel like he’s a coloniser and… he’s come in like the Lord of the Manor,’ said another local.
Edmonds’ estate’s catchphrase is ‘positively together’ and he told the publication he was acquiring property to ‘make a difference’.
‘I’m here… to give, to make a difference. My love has always been the environment, the countryside. I haven’t just been buying property for the sake of it,’ he said.
Noel has also raised eyebrows within the community by beetling around in ‘brand new Ford Ranger Wildtraks, jacked up on huge wheels and pimped out with light bars, aerials’ complete with sirens and a loud ‘public address system’.
Convoys of these vehicles were apparently seen driving up and down the valley, leaving onlookers perplexed.
His number plates also show his NSFW, eh, humour, as he is said to enjoy messing with the number 4 and letter Q to spell out ‘f**k you’.
Noel claims he wants to fit in and has recently covered the local school’s £3,000 tab for traffic control during the village’s annual busy festival.
When he spoke with the press, he joked that they should be asking him how he looked so amazing for his age. For those who are curious, it consists of a daily session of electro-magnetic field therapy and one hour each week in an oxygen chamber.
When asked whether he can pronounce the name of his home village now – after confessing to not being able to when he arrived – the Noel’s House Party star replied: ‘Yeah, I’ll pronounce it the way that somebody said last week, that it’s Noeltimoti.’
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Edmonds can be heard raising his voice at a lady called Belinda Crisp, a cycle trail manager who consented to meet with the TV personality on his estate to discuss a previously approved cycle track through one of his properties, according to a tape acquired by the tabloid.
The Nelson Tasman cycling track Trust obtained consent from the Tasman District Council and the Government to develop a cycling track here as part of the region’s Great Taste Trail before Edmonds relocated here last year.
Crisp was expecting a logistical discussion on how they might make it work for everyone, but instead was welcomed with a voice recorder and a bristling Edmonds after explaining who she worked for.
‘When he heard [the council], he said, “you’re the servant and I’m the ratepayer, so I’m the master”,’ Crisp recalled.
In the tape, he can allegedly be heard saying: ‘All hell’s gonna break loose, right. And while you, still, have this attitude you are not welcome here. Don’t even think about having a coffee, having a slice… you are our enemies.’
He raised his voice: ‘You are our enemies. You have to be defeated otherwise you’re gonna bring down this wonderful country.
‘Yes you are, because you’re so proud. Anyway, good luck with it. As we say in Britain, ‘on yer bike’.’
Nice.
