London’s most famous eco-squat, Grow Heathrow, celebrates 6 years of inspired resistance. We go along to the party and talk to activists there about their struggles, their successes and our shared future.
Grassroots Takeover radio show: https://soundcloud.com/grassroots-takeover/happy-birthday-grow-heathrow
source: Occupy London http://occupylondon.org.uk/listen-here-to-interviews-and-highlights-from-grow-heathrows-6th-birthday-party/
On March 1st 2010, Transition Heathrow members swooped on an abandoned market garden site in Sipson; one of the villages to be completely tarmacked to make way for a third runway at Heathrow.
6 years later, and Grow Heathrow is still here.
This weekend we’re celebrating this hub of social activity and resistance against Heathrow’s 3rd runway, and the hundreds of you who have made this happen over 6 years.
Come and celebrate with us!
Friday 4th March
3 – 5pm: The Beauty is in the Struggle: Come along to the Sipson mural. Add your hand prints to the many celebrating the beauty that lies in the struggle of Sipson Village. Outside the Zayani restaurant UB7 0HU.
Open Mic Night: Join us in the evening for vegan cuisine and music. Bring your instruments! [Read More]
Grow Heathrow, who have occupied land in the Heathrow villages since 2010, were given a stay of execution as the court was adjourned until the summer of 2016.
The Shadow Chancellor arrived at Uxbridge County Court this morning to show his continued support for the anti-third runway occupation.
Mr. McDonnell handed in a statement which read “Members of Grow Heathrow have become part of the local community, making a valuable contribution to the life of the local villages. Grow Heathrow is part of a fierce community resistance to Heathrow’s expansion that won’t go away easily for any government. I commend this group to you and hope that its members will be able to continue to remain on this site and part of our community.” [Read More]
Dear Friends,
We have a court case approaching. Lewdown Holdings Limited (registered in the British Virgin Islands . . . .), at their antics again, are attempting to remove us from the community project that you and we have worked together to establish for five and a half years. We are going to court to defend “the backlands”, and it is possible that an eviction notice will be served, putting the whole of Grow Heathrow under threat of immediate eviction.
Although the land under question is designated green belt land, the owners have submitted a planning application for the Sipson Village Garden Centre site (ref 67666/APP/2015/2413) which shows no intention of maintaining the land for agricultural use.
A solidarity demonstration has been organised to show support for the defendants, gathering from 9:00 outside Uxbridge County Court on Thursday 17th September. [Read More]
Lewdown Holdings have submitted a planning application for the Sipson Garden Centre site, the land where a large portion of the community project Grow Heathrow is located. Hillingdon Council’s planning department will be accepting comments on the application from the public until August 6th (TOMORROW!).
The link to the application on the council’s website is here:
http://planning.hillingdon.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/planningDetails?reference=67666/APP/2015/2413&from=planningSearch
Please write to the council why you think this over-development of Green Belt land is a bad idea: Click on the link above and then click on the ‘enter comment’ button
Quick! Only 24 hours to make a comment. Below are some suggested reasons you could use in your statement: [Read More]
At 10:00 this morning (July 8) the land owner plus 5/6 bailiffs arrived to evict the residents of Grow Heathrow, threatening to break entry. Residents locked themselves to structures and climbed to higher ground. The police arrived, explaining to the bailiffs they were woefully unequipped to enforce an eviction. Indeed they were. Moreover, Inspector David George from the Heathrow Villages Area Police confirmed to us that as no official documentation regarding a warrant for the eviction was presented to Grow Heathrow or the police, the attempt to evict the site was unlawful.
[Read More]
Just days to go and we’re warming up for Saturday’s birthday celebrations.
There’s an exciting line up, and more information about workshops, activities and timings below.
Don’t forget to bring along seeds for the seed-swap, cakes for the cake competition and instruments for the jam.
There’s plenty of space for camping. Join the Grow Heathrow camping crew and bring a tent and sleeping bag. We also recommend warm layers, hot water bottles and friendly bodies to provide extra cosy heat.
If you can donate any mugs, please bring them along as we want to make sure everyone can drink tea! [Read More]
Who would have thought it? It’s been 5 years of growing tomatoes, learning how to use renewable energy, protecting from planes, pollution and capitalism and finding out about what community really means.. so it’s time to party…
Saturday 28th February 11am till late: 5th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Expect workshops, guest speakers, fun and games, pizzas, live music, tours, the cake competition, late night djs, and more.
Friday, 27th February 7pm: Pre-Birthday Performance
Sunday 1st March 3pm: Post-Birthday Artistic Performance
Any Help Appreciated – Help us start the next 5 years with a bang by joining in with preparation throughout January and February. We need help fixing, building and painting on site, cooking cakes and spreading the word. Come to the Grow Heathrow site and join in with tasks, especially on a Thursday as that’s our community work day. On the day, we’ll also need help cooking, entertaining the littluns, playing music and more. [Read More]
Responding to a recent call out, Grow Heathrow sent wishes of solidarity to Hambacher Forest on Thursday.
Hambacher Forest is a camp comprising four occupations in the Rhineland of Germany, which is protesting against the expansion of one of the largest opencast brown coal mines. The mine is a disaster, not only in terms of the impact on the climate from this dirty fossil fuel, but also for the local residents of the nearby villages that would be destroyed to make way for the mine’s expansion. In addition the natural ecosystem would be totally devastated.
In recent weeks activists in Hambacher Forest have been carrying out a number of actions against the felling of this ancient forest. There have been a number of arrests and one of the tree-occupations was evicted at the beginning of December. [Read More]
In the four and a half years since Grow Heathrow project started it has significantly grown in size and scope. The original abandoned plant nursery site where the project began is right next to another piece of derelict Green Belt land, that contains the ruins of several more glasshouse frames.
In the spirit of the original occupation, these have been gradually occupied and incorporated into Grow Heathrow, providing additional venues for activities, including the straw bale house that was built with the help of many willing volunteers and has been a prominent feature of the project since it was finished.
The occupiers of the Grow Heathrow site have been fighting a legal battle to retain the use of the land that the project is situated on, but that has so far been limited to the boundaries of the original site. The land bordering this, known in our community as the “Backlands”, is owned seperately by Lewdown Holdings Limited, a faceless company registered in Guernsey. After years of peaceful occupation, they have now decided to begin legal proceedings to remove anyone associated with Grow Heathrow from their land. [Read More]
We have just been served a court hearing for the backlands at Grow Heathrow. Tuesday 23rd September, 11am, Uxbridge County Court.
Please come along to court to show your support, or come along to the Grow Heathrow site in the day to get involved in cooking some delicious food and all the rest…
We will try and pursue every avenue to prolong our stay on site – keep your eyes peeled for any upcoming news. More information to follow soon. PLEASE PASS IT ON. [Read More]
Role of Resistance at Grow Heathrow
Grow Heathrow, is an inclusive, sustainable community project on the site of the proposed 3rd runway. We are committed to furthering positive social change through education, autonomy and campaigning.
We are looking for responsible, enthusiastic and compassionate people who understand the unique nature of Grow Heathrow as a squatted piece of land under threat of eviction, in a village fighting against airport expansion.
Grow Heathrow is a nationally recognized organisation, making front page news. This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the most exciting and innovative projects of its time and participate from the ground up in real change on both a local and global level. [Read More]
