On 12th May 2010 a group of activists took over a piece of derelict land in Hanworth road, Hounslow, West London. A seed group of Kew bridge Eco – Village, it was intended as a community garden and experiment in self sufficient sustainable urban living using permaculture techniques. The idea was to have an open creative space with workshops, planting, art etc.

The site, owned by Transport for London, was formerly a dye-works and a pub. TfL intended to build a new bus depot there. But with strong public opposition, their plans had been dropped and they now intended to sell the land for other development.

Most of the squatters at the Hanworth Road site had come from the Kew Bridge eco village, where campers were in the process of being evicted to make way for a housing development.

The Hounslow land squatters constructed a tepee and laid a football pitch on the former dye works. They had plans to put on plays with theatre students and bicycle or solar-powered film nights for the community as well as building a children’s play area and arts and crafts area.

However, over the next few months things seem to have got more chaotic. Apparently problems with drugs, alcohol and anti-social elements took their toll. Later in the year, the residents of the Hanworth Road eco camp were evicted under the authority of a Court order granted to TFL.

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An entry in the 2016 London Rebel History Calendar – check it out online