A suggestion first mooted over a year ago to name the Newtown bypass after the Great Brimmon Oak is gaining momentum with the launch of a petition supporting the plan.
The oak tree became famous after landowner Mervyn Lloyd Jones and “Treehunter” Rob McBride launched a campaign to save the tree when plans for the bypass route were published.
The road would have some so close to the tree that it would have killed its roots and the tree itself eventually, campaigners warned.
The campaign reached national attention and saw the 1,000 year-old-tree become Wales Tree of the Year and then UK Tree of the Year.
It also made the finals of the European Tree of the Year.
The Welsh Government agreed to move the road by several meters to ensure the tree was protected.
The petition states: "We the undersigned call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to consider our proposal to officially name the much needed and historic, new road section of the A483, the ‘Newtown Brimmon Oak bypass.'
"I'n recognition of the enormously positive publicity and attention that one of the most significant ‘Natural Monuments’ of Montgomeryshire, namely the Brimmon Oak, has brought to Newtown, to the region and to Wales."
MyNewtown reported calls for the road to be named after the Brimmon Oak in 2017.
The petition can be found here: http://bit.ly/2jrf4Hf
Photo: Mervyn Lloyd Jones near the Brimmon Oak before work began on the Newtown bypass (Photo ©Owain Betts)
