00:00Meet Victoria's Tree of the Year.
00:05This majestic Algerian oak has sat by the banks of Birches Creek in Kingston for the last 130 years.
00:12It's never been pruned and the boughs just go right down to the ground.
00:17But its future is in danger.
00:21We found out that AusNet's transmission lines were coming through here
00:27and it was going to mean the destruction of the tree.
00:30So we started a campaign to try and save it.
00:33A key part of the campaign was nominating the tree for Victoria's Tree of the Year.
00:38And this week it won.
00:40I was over the moon. I did come down to the tree actually and I told the tree.
00:44That was pretty good. The tree was wrapped.
00:47The Tree of the Year is run by the National Trust,
00:50which hopes AusNet will now review its plans.
00:53We recognise that transmission lines have an impact wherever they go.
00:58But I think the community has spoken on this one that they don't want it to go right there.
01:04Locals fear losing the Algerian oak and replacing it with overhead transmission lines
01:09wouldn't just hurt the visual appearance of the landscape in Kingston.
01:13They're also concerned about what it might do to the local ecosystem.
01:16You'll see platypus swimming around the waterholes, which is fantastic.
01:22It's a beautiful, beautiful spot.
01:24We are absolutely for renewable energy.
01:28We think it's a really important thing.
01:31But we don't think that a small number of people should actually cop a very large bill.
01:37A Western Renewables Link spokesperson says the environmental impacts are being assessed,
01:43including submissions about the tree's significance.
01:46If a tree becomes Victoria's crown tree of the year,
01:50what authority is going to cut it down?
01:53Standing strong in the face of development.
01:56Standing strong in the face of development.
01:58ten
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