Mitch Matters: R.E. Ross Trust gives millions to Peninsula
THE story behind Hillview Quarries founder Roy Everard Ross is a fascinating one, Peter Mitchell writes.
South East
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TAKE any road on the Mornington Peninsula and it won’t be too long before you come across an outstanding local product.
As any landscape designer or architect will tell you, stone walls or paths are everywhere.
Brown and grey granite source rock from Hillview Quarries at Dromana has been used in so many places and in a vast array of different construction projects, both large and small.
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The story behind Hillview is a fascinating one, and it all starts with a name on a sign that you will find beside the entrance to the Frankston Library on Playne St. It simply says, ‘R.E. Ross Library’.
Roy Everard Ross died in 1970, but he still has a deep connection to our region.
The relocated Frankston Library was officially reopened in 1995, after the R.E. Ross Trust contributed $250,000 to the public fundraising appeal for the Frankston Arts Precinct.
Roy Ross was born at Mansfield in 1899 and trained as a land surveyor before becoming a successful local government engineer, property owner, businessman and investor.
He served as a Captain in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in New Guinea following World War One.
A keen environmentalist, Ross had extensive knowledge of local plants and trees and made a detailed study of the habits of birds and their calls.
In 1959 he founded Bayview Quarries and when it was purchased by Boral less than ten years later, Ross formed Hillview to operate the existing quarry at Dromana.
With its stone and quarry products carted to all corners of the Mornington Peninsula and beyond, Hillview became a highly profitable operation.
But Ross was definitely not someone to lean back with his feet on the desk, dreaming of ways he could spend his riches on himself.
He was, in fact, a farsighted philanthropist in the throes of making meticulous plans should he one day meet his demise.
And so it was that when he passed away, the will of R.E. Ross left specific instructions about the fortune he’d amassed.
He established a perpetual charitable trust in his name, based on three main missions. He wanted to address disadvantage and inequity. He wanted to promote and encourage social inclusiveness, community connectedness and health and wellbeing.
And finally, he wanted to protect and preserve Australian flora and fauna.
His will provided for five trustees to manage the assets of the trust and to distribute its income.
For almost 50 years, all profits from the Hillview business have been distributed to charities, educational and environmental projects through the R.E. Ross Trust.
That sum of money totals more than $100 million and a large chunk of that has been shared among community projects in our region.
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The trust believes its crowning achievement came in 2002 with the purchase of a property in Northwest Victoria known as ‘Ned’s Corner Station’.
It’s believed to be the largest Victorian property in private ownership, comprising 25,000 hectares, including 14kms of Murray River frontage.
It’s a purchase of immense significance to conservation in Victoria, but it’s only a tiny facet of the trust’s work.
You won’t find a statue anywhere commemorating the life of Roy Everard Ross, but he has left behind a remarkable legacy and his name will live on forever.
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