A NEW reserve, the size of 25 MCGs, has been gifted to Cardinia Shire Council.
The Hillview Bushland Reserve, located between Bathe Road and Carpenters Road, Pakenham, was officially handed over to the council by the R.E. Ross Trust, through its subsidiary Hillview Quarries, on Monday.
Cardinia Shire Council Mayor Brett Owen said the land handover was a generous gesture.
“This area will become a wonderful asset for bushwalkers and bird watchers,” Cr Owen said.
The 47 hectares of bushland is now protected by a Trust for Nature conservation covenant.
The donation will protect local flora and fauna and be used for recreational use by the community
Eda Ritchie, chairman of the Ross Trust and a director of Hillview Quarries, said the company recognised the important conservation values of the area and the value of protecting it for the future.
Hillview Quarries originally purchased the land in the 1980s to expand the company’s quarrying interests.
However the land was found to be surplus to its commercial interests, so the Trust requested Hillview set aside the 47 hectares for a reserve which Cardinia Shire now owns on behalf of the community.
An adjacent seven hectares was subdivided into nine large residential blocks.
These residential blocks, running off Bathe and Leppitt roads, are for sale and the proceeds will enable more charitable grants throughout Victoria.
Cr Owen said the gift of the reserve was an example of how business, local government and philanthropy can work together for the lasting benefit of the community.
