When do you need an SDA or an SMP?

Short answer: smaller jobs an SDA, larger jobs an SMP.

Many Victorian councils have an Environmentally Sustainable Development policy in their planning scheme, at Clause 15.01-2L. It sets the size of development that triggers each report. A Sustainable Design Assessment (SDA) is the shorter report. A Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) is the full one, usually with a Green Travel Plan.

BESS describes these policies as typically the same in each council except for the size and scale of development that triggers them. So the council's own clause decides.

Four councils, four sets of thresholds.

Yarra (Clause 15.01-2L-01)

SDA for 2 to 9 dwellings, or a non-residential building of 100 to 1,000 m2. SMP and Green Travel Plan for 10 or more dwellings, or a non-residential building over 1,000 m2.

Darebin (Clause 15.01-2L-01)

SDA for 3 to 9 dwellings, or a non-residential building of 100 to 999 m2. SMP and Green Travel Plan for 10 or more dwellings, or a non-residential building over 1,000 m2.

Monash (Clause 15.01-2L-02)

SDA for 3 to 9 dwellings, or a non-residential building of 500 to 1,000 m2. SMP and Green Travel Plan for 10 or more dwellings, or over 1,000 m2 non-residential.

Kingston (Clause 15.01-2L)

SDA for 3 to 9 dwellings, or a non-residential building of 1,000 to 2,499 m2. SMP and Green Travel Plan for 10 or more dwellings, or over 2,499 m2 non-residential.

Each policy also has its own figures for accommodation buildings other than dwellings, and mixed-use jobs are assessed on both components.

The Clause 55 change for townhouses.

Clause 55 covers two or more dwellings on a lot and residential buildings of three storeys or less, in the residential zones it lists. For applications under it, the council is not required to consider the Municipal Planning Strategy and Planning Policy Framework, which is where the local ESD policy sits, unless a decision guideline says otherwise.

Clause 55.05 carries its own sustainability standards instead. One of them, Standard B5-1, asks for at least 20% pervious surfaces and a stormwater system meeting best practice targets, shown with a 100% Blue Factor score or MUSIC.

Kingston, for example, now says an SDA or SMP is encouraged for these applications. Where Clause 55 does not apply, its ESD policy thresholds still do.

What goes in each.

SDA

A short assessment, the policies say using BESS and a stormwater tool, covering energy, water, indoor environment, stormwater, transport, waste and urban ecology.

SMP

Whitehorse describes it as a comprehensive investigation and plan for the development, asking for more than an SDA. The policies name BESS or Green Star, stormwater modelling, and a Green Travel Plan.

Sources: planning schemes of Yarra, Darebin, Monash and Kingston; Victoria Planning Provisions Clause 55 and Clause 55.05-1; Kingston City Council; Whitehorse City Council; BESS. General information, not an assessment of any particular site.

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