'Touch that tree and I'll kneecap you'

A 94-year-old war veteran is battling to save an iconic Melbourne red gum, half a century after he used his rifle to protect that very same tree.

50 years ago, the World War II veteran, Nevin Phillips, saw a road worker with a chainsaw ready to chop the tree down.

Gun in hand, Mr. Phillips went across the road and told the worker, “If you touch that tree, I'll kneecap you.”

Chuckling, Mr. Phillips admits, “he went a bit white when I said that.”

He may have won that battle, but this time the stakes are higher.

The red gum, along with 75 homes and 140 local businesses in the Melbourne suburb of Bulleen are in the firing line to make way for Victoria's $16.5 billion North East Road link.

One of the locals affected by the proposed road design is mechanic John Donohue, whose auto repair shop is across the road from the red gum. His garage is one of the many that will be lost if the current plan for the road goes ahead.

 “If I’ve got to move from my client base, I would effectively be finished.

“Look, I've never disputed the need for the road. Bullen is struggle being traffic flow. But it would be good if they could redesign and try to go around us, or above us, or under us.

Please don't take us out.”

Locals in Bulleen are rallying together in a bid to find an alternative to the current road design. They have until June 7 to make a submission to the State Government.

But the tenacious grandpa says he’s ready to take his case for the red gum all the way to Canberra.

“I’ll definitely take it to the PM,” he told Today.

 “Everybody in the area loves the tree. It's an icon. It’s 300 years old!”

 “The trouble is, I’m not allowed to use a rifle anymore.”