A group of Hornsey residents have clubbed together to buy a large plot of land in a bid to stop developers building on it.

Unhappy at the prospect of a new housing complex nearby, the people of Linzee Road, Clovelly Road, Priory Avenue and Priory Road decided to take matters into their own hands and purchased the land themselves, at a cost of £500,000.

Now the 35 households forming the Priory Gardens Shareholders, as they are known, have begun the first stages to transform the site into a landscaped communal garden. On Sunday, 30 residents, led by campaign co-ordinator Benjy Lesser, braved the rain and storms to plant 12 trees and 150 shrubs and plants in the 1,750 square-metre site.

The planting marks the end of a long battle to keep the area free from developments.

In 2002, an application was made to Haringey Council to build eight houses on the land. After this was rejected, developers came back with new plans for four larger homes in 2004.

Though this was also rejected, residents feared that an application might eventually be accepted, and decided their best option was to offer to buy the land from a firm using it as a car pound.

Mr Lesser said: "The idea was born out of necessity. We decided the best thing would be to create a communal garden for everyone to use that was safe and secure, and it really brought us all together into a community."

The sale of the backlands site was completed in April, and the residents hope to formally open the garden in July. Craig Hamilton-Smith, of Clovelly Road, is one of the shareholders.

He said: "A lot of people have been here for quite a long time and there's established families here so people thought it was worth the bother. People didn't want houses built right at their back fence."

David Winskill, Liberal Democrat councillor for Crouch End, praised their efforts: "Benjy Lesser and his fellow residents have fought a very long and determined campaign to stop the over-development of a plot of land at the bottom of their gardens and deserve fantastic credit for seeing this through to this wonderful conclusion."