Hillview Quarries has helped the Habitat Restoration Fund to plant 100 new trees in the Arthurs Seat State Park, three years into a seven-year initiative.
In 2018, Hillview Quarries provided $32,000 to the Fund and began focusing on the poisoning and removal of tobacco and other weed management practices to help restore the State Park.
Hillview Quarries chief executive officer Paul Nitas said this was a long term plan to give back to the community surrounding the quarry business.
“The seven-year grant equates to $32,000 in funding and the long-term nature of this initiative means that the project can make a real difference, ensuring the removal of weeds is managed consistently over multiple years,” Nitas said.
“This allows the new plants to survive, mature and enhance this important community asset.”
Nitas said an initial grant of $30,000 in 2011, from Hillview to the Fund, began the ongoing relationship.
Hillview has been owned by local philanthropic charity the Ross Trust for more than 50 years, by the will of the late Roy Everard Ross.
The idea behind the Trust and subsequent works of Hillview are to give back to the surrounding community in an environmentally responsible way.
“The funding comes directly from the profits of Hillview Quarries, the same business which funds the majority of philanthropic grants from the Ross Trust,” Nitas said.
“Hillview Quarries supports a number of similar projects on privately owned land next to the State Park. These are also multi-year projects which focus on effective weed management, restoration and improved environmental outcomes.”
Nitas said the area of restoration intersects with the Hillview Community Reserve, which was gifted to the Mornington Peninsula Shire by the Ross Trust.
Hillview and the Habitat Restoration Fund will ensure their work will not be in vain, as auditors will review throughout the process.
“Hillview Quarries is proud to fulfil its responsibility to undertake rehabilitation work on its own land and adjoining areas,” Nitas said. “These works are required under current guidelines and audited to ensure that works are effective. It is an important part of our role as responsible operators of this quarry.”
Hillview Quarries owns the Hillview Quarry Drive site in Dromana, in Melbourne’s south-east, which actively quarries and supplies brown and grey granite to the local Mornington Peninsula region and wider Victoria.
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