The Shire of Towong (; first syllable to rhyme with wow) is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in August 2021 had a population of 6,223.
It includes the service towns of Corryong and Tallangatta and the rural towns of Bethanga, Bellbridge, Cudgewa, Dartmouth, Eskdale, Mitta Mitta, Tintaldra and Walwa.
The shire is nestled between Australia's highest peaks, from Mount Bogong near Eskdale Spur to the foothills of Mount Kosciuszko at Tom Groggin. It is also home to Pine Mountain, reportedly the largest monolith in Australia. The Shire is bordered by the Murray River to the north and the Mitta Mitta River in the south.
The Shire is governed and administered by the Towong Shire Council. Its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Tallangatta; it also has a service centre located in Corryong.
History The first entity known as the "Shire of Towong" was formed in 1874. It occupied the same region as the modern LGA. In October 1920 the eastern part of the shire was severed to form the Shire of Upper Murray. No longer containing the Towong locality, the Shire of Towong was renamed the Shire of Tallangatta in 1974.
As part of the substantial local government reforms of 1994, the Shire of Towong was created anew by amalgamating the Shires of Tallangatta and Upper Murray.
Council Current composition The council is composed of five councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. WardCouncillorNotesUnsubdivided David Wortmann Peter Tolsher Mayor Denise Anderson Deputy Mayor Jonathon Pitman Andrew Whitehead
Administration and governance The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Tallangatta Municipal Offices as well as its offices in Corryong on alternating months. Tallangatta is the primary location of the council's administrative activities. It provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Tallangatta, the Tallangatta library and its service centre in Corryong.
Townships and localities According to the 2021 census, Towong Shire had a population of 6,223, up from 5,985 in the 2016 census.
Population Locality 2016 2021 370 393 37 35 471 485 49 61 75 63 11 0 43 24 51 61 1,348 1,352 261 254 104 130 242 238 62 75 99 88 18 20 43 46 20 26 28 25 171 171 26 39 0 0 ^ 90 87 35 45 34 32 7 5 219 245 79 92 1,082 1,175 56 39 139 142 202 194 11 22 82 70 60 66 0 7 132 143 34 37 177 191 ^ – Territory divided with another LGA
See also List of localities (Victoria) List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the Shire of Towong
References
External links
Towong Shire Council official website Metlink local public transport map Link to Land Victoria interactive maps