Bonnington Square from acacia films on Vimeo.

Bonnington square was aa cooperative housing community established in Vauxhall in London in the early 1980’s after people who had been squatting the derelict buildings decide to legally take on the properties. This film documents this story. Thanks goes to Alister Oldham who gave us permission to post his film here.

As Alister states “Bonnington Square is right in the heart of London, just two minutes walk from the river and just ten minutes from the Houses of Parliament. In the early eighties the one hundred houses of the Square were all squatted, forming a bohemian community from all around the world.The squat had two community gardens, a cafe, a wholefood shop, a nightclub, a newsletter and even a milkbar. Although it is no longer squatted, there are still many low rent housing cooperatives, and the cafe and the gardens are still collectively run, and the Square is now a model of a modern sustainable urban community”

Photo used courtesy of Tom Coady more photos of Bonnington Square here.

Some good links about Bonnington Square.

http://bonningtonsquare.org.uk/

http://self-help-housing.org/case-studies/bonnington-square-london/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/jul/06/sustainable-squatting-bonnington-square