AN inner-city Melbourne council has come forward with support for Towong Shire in the bushfire recovery effort.
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Stonnington Council, which covers suburbs including Toorak, Armadale, Kooyong and parts of South Yarran and Glen Iris, this week agreed to donate $50,000 to Towong Shire which has had 308,000 hectares or 45 per cent of its total area burnt last month.
Stonnington also has nearly 120,000 residents compared to Towong's 6100.
"Like all Victorians, I have been horrified watching the bushfires across Victoria, NSW and South Australia," mayor Steve Stefanopoulos said.
"My thoughts are with everyone impacted.
"This donation is just one part of our response, and we will continue to work with Towong Shire and assist where we can in the longer term.
"Across Stonnington, people, businesses and community groups are doing what they can to provide support. I am proud of the generosity of our community."
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In addition, a team of Stonnington staff members with disaster recovery expertise is also on its way to Towong after some staff had already assisted at the height of the bushfire crisis in early January.
Meanwhile, Towong Shire has gone outside the organisation to appoint an acting chief executive when Juliana Phelps takes a short break beginning February 20.
Former Borough of Queenscliffe chief executive Lenny Jenner will step into the acting role until March 20.
Mr Jenner, who began a consultancy firm when he stepped down, had been assisting Towong late last year when the council underwent a major restructure following the departures of former directors Jo Shannon and Jamie Heritage.
The council moved to a three director structure with the appointments of Vincent McFarlane, Jenelle Williamson and Rachel Gadd.
Ms Williamson previously worked at Wodonga Council and Ms Gadd formerly worked at Towong Shire.
"It would be unreasonable under the current circumstances for any of the directors to step into the acting CEO role," Ms Phelps said.
The role is being partly funded by $2.2 million provided by the state government.