The removal of 229 trees, scheduled to be felled to make way for a new school in Beaumaris, has been put on hold following a large protest on Monday morning.
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More than 200 placard-waving protesters gathered at the school, in Melbourne's south-east, to stop the planned removal of the trees.
The state government has committed $20 million to build a co-educational high school on the site of Sandringham College's Beaumaris campus, which closed last year.
The new school, to be called called Beaumaris Secondary College, is due to open in 2018.
Residents claim that they were not consulted about the removal of trees on the site and have started a petition which argues that felling along the old school's fenceline is not necessary to make way for the new buildings.
In a minor win for protesters, tree removal was halted on Monday morning until the community is consulted.
Greg Mier, president of the Beaumaris Conservation Society, said it was a win for residents.
"The community was really strong about not wanting any clearing happening until we can get some consultation," he said.
Trees would not be removed until a group of expert arborists and stakeholders had examined the plans, Mr Mier said, and until the community had been properly consulted.
"The ideal is to save as many of the trees that we can and, obviously, have a really meaningful effect on the replanting of plants so that the area [keeps] as much of the flora and fauna as is possible," he said.
"We know we are going to lose some trees, we just want to make sure that the trees going are the right trees and that there is no other way."
Victory for protesters at Beaumaris. No trees will be felled today until community consultation held @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/SF7ZWQyfWV— Dougal Beatty (@DougalBeatty) October 23, 2016
Of the 229 trees planned to be removed, 87 have to go because they are in poor health while the remainder threaten to damage the integrity of the new building, according to the Education Department.
The Victorian School Building Authority has said that for every tree removed, two new trees would replace it.
In total, 500 new trees would be planted as part of the redevelopment.
In a statement, Victoria Police said they were aware of the protest.
Police have placed officers at the secondary college early on Monday morning to "maintain public safety and respond to any incidents as required".
"We respect the right of the community to express their views peacefully and lawfully, but will not tolerate those who break the law," a police spokesman said in a statement.
