About Kew Bridge Eco Village (permanant post please scroll down for up to date info)

Kew bridge Eco village was set up on June 6th 2009 to promote sustainability and act as an activist hub in the heart of the urban environment. we have been successful so far and aim to provide a space for other people to learn how to set up their own villages (with our help)

Kew bridge on the BBC



Kew Bridge Eco village virtual reality tour (its as if your really there!)





you can join us on facebook here

This eco-village occupation is inspired by campaigns like The Land is Ours which campaigns peacefully for access to the land, its resources, and the decision-making processes affecting them, for everyone, irrespective of race, gender or age so ....

COME ALONG EVERY SUNDAY AND MEET OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SET UP A NEW VILLAGE THIS SUMMER !!

BE THE CHANGE

Hounslow Community Land Project

2 days ago a group of Activists took a piece of derelict land in Hanworth road Hounslow West London. A seed group of Kew bridge Eco - Village, It is intended as a community garden and experiment in self sufficient sustainable urban living using permaculture techniques. The idea is to have an open creative space with workshops, planting, art etc. Its early days and the space is evolving nicely so if you are ready to take radical action to change this planet and If you are up for living free and responsibly in the urban jungle then get down there!!

Its on Hanworth Road, next to Clarence terrace and a large Gurdwara Sikh temple in Hounslow, West London.

Democracy Village Parliament Square

Its 8 days of the Democracy Village at the writing of this blog we at grow your own village have been staying and a real little community is forming. The aim is to occupy the Square until the troops are pulled out of Afganistan but also provide a space for all political view points. If you have a tent and a sleeping bag get down to Parliament and make History. Seriously though, go get it now and get down there your presence could make a real difference.




Statement From The Democracy Village, Parliament Square, May 2nd

We, the concerned citizens of the Democracy Village on Parliament Square, demand on behalf of the majority of people that the war in Afghanistan is ended and the troops are brought home with immediate effect.

The Democracy Village calls all like-minded concerned citizens to come and join us. We are calling a Strike for Peace until our demands are met. We are committed to maintaining an ongoing presence on Parliament Square.

All are welcome to come and stay for a few hours, a day, or a night. Donations of food and equipment are very welcome. Bring a sleeping bag and tent if you plan to stay.

In this election, no major party has offered the choice to end this pointless war.

VOTE FOR PEACE by coming to the village today.

Email: democracyvillage@gmail.com for more info





As the British General Election of 2010 draws to an end and the people prepare to vote, and after nine years of a now financially ruinous war, Parliament Square swells with a new Democracy Village formed to bring UK involvement in the war in Afghanistan to an end.

Over the past 10 days, deaths continue to be reported from Afghanistan from a range of causes including suicide bombings and ISAF/NATO (International Security Assistance Force/North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) air-strikes.

The majority of those killed being civilians.

In 2010, civilian deaths in Afghanistan continue to rise with 12 dead after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on April 28th.

Depressingly, both the US and UK military continue to insist on using the term Insurgent or Taliban as an indiscriminate moniker to describe what is now, in large part, the Afghani civilian people themselves.



On April 21st, Nato commanders were forced to apologise after shooting dead four Afghani's in their vehicle and then describing them as known Insurgents. Among the four dead were a police officer and a 12 year old boy. Nato had previously claimed they had used Biometric Data fingerprinting to identify them as Insurgents, a claim which was later hurriedly dropped.

The village forms with toilet, kitchen and sleeping areas and calls upon those engaged with bringing the war to an end to join them as the election period passes and a new, albeit weakened, British political environment begins.

GROW HEATHROW

Back on the 1st of March, community activists from the group Transition Heathrow [1] moved into an abandoned market garden in Sipson. [2] Around lunchtime, about 20 people "swooped" [3] on the land in Sipson, one of the villages due for demolition if the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead. [4] After securing the site, the group immediately informed their new neighbours and local residents of their intention to reopen the old market garden for the benefit of the local community.

The 'Grow Heathrow' project aims to encourage and support locally grown produce in an area that once had some of the most fertile soils in Britain. Transition Heathrow has launched the project to highlight the need for a community controlled food supply in order to remain resilient to the impacts of peak oil and climate change. It intends to use the old market garden not only for growing, but also for activities such as bike workshops, clothes making, solidarity support for local workers and direct action workshops for people trying to stop the third runway.

Transition Heathrow member and local resident Joe Rake, described the events of the day. "Around lunchtime, a group of us walked onto the site. Once we had secured the gate, we set about telling local residents why we were there and inviting them to join in. We also had to start tidying up as it appeared to have been used for scrapping cars. Since the last tenants were evicted, the site has attracted unsavoury characters, so we wanted to restart the market garden for the good of the local community."

Many of those involved in the 'swoop' see today's action as a positive way of resisting the third runway whilst building an alternative community solution in its place.

Heathrow resident Amy Summer said "We've been fighting the threat of the third runway for years, and its blighted our community. This kind of action not only helps stop expansion but also helps regenerate the area, providing local skills, green jobs and organic produce instead."

She added, "This form of direct action is just as important as sitting on a runway, blockading the bulldozers or striking for more green jobs. There's no point in growing your own veg if it's going to be covered in tarmac by BAA. At the same time there's no point in community resistance if there's no community left to defend. We have to do both."

Bristol Eco Village

On 17th April 2010 around 45 people occupied a piece of unused land in Bristol, England to set up Bristol Ecovillage, a Center for Alternative Technology. By the end of the day they had established themselves and even had built raised planting beds. The following is a good film that shows what happened on what was a great day.




So get down to the site and help out. directions here
The guys in Bristol have recently seen off an illegal eviction attempt within the first four days. They now have a court date and their future on that particluar site hangs in the balance. So If you live near Bristol Keep an eye out for disused brown field sites, abandoned walled gardens, disused and fenced off peaces of woodland or any large empty peace of land that fits the following requirements

Boundaries - Some form of barrier around the site with a gate to provide security for the village residents.

Decent Soil - We wish to grow our own food so cultivatable soil is preferable

Space - Anything from the size of a football pitch upwards.

Urban - The location must be in an urban location. Bristol Eco Village is an urban community based project. Our aim is to create a family friendly space for the local community to enjoy. We believe that more can be achieved within an urban setting than a rural one because it exposes a great many more people to our ideas and way of life.

email and info to
bitsofwood@riseup.net (Bristol Eco Village crew )

The National Land Use Database

The National Land Use Database www.nlud.org.uk a web site that provided a comprehensive, recent and consistent record of Previously Developed Land and Buildings in England for development, whether vacant, derelict or still in productive use (& as it happens a useful tool for scouting derelict land online ) has just been replaced by a group called: 'The Houses and Communities Agency', meaning that the database is no longer available on the net.

As luck would have it, there is backup of the databases! Click HERE TO DOWNLOAD you will find attached five of the databases (in excel fortmat) from the NLUD, covering various parts of England. Please share these databases with other people over the net. we will be posting a video about how to use these databases shortly but the best thng to do is look up the places on Google video get on your bike and go and check out the space

Workshops Sunday 28th March

The first of the weekly 'Grow Your Own Village' workshops will be commencing this Sunday at Kew Bridge Eco Village from 12 Noon.

The workshops that will be happening this Sunday are:

12-1PM: virtual land hunting workshop. <---- this will involve looking at databases & satellite imagery with a PC

1PM-2PM: lunch <---not a workshop, just some good tasty skipped food!

2PM onwards: land scouting workshop. <---- going out and about looking for derelict land, followed by a discussion about things to think about when identifying and selecting land for low impact communities in the urban environment.

Also this Saturday from 12 Noon, there will be the weekly Permaculture session at Kew Bridge which will involve planting vegetables, designing growing areas and much more.

Hope you can come and join us for either or even better, both of these days.

we will have videos and information on this blog about the workshops afterwoods if you are unable to make it