Sustainability Management Plan
An SMP sets the sustainability commitments council writes into your permit. When it's written after the design is fixed, targets either bend the drawings or get promised untested. We confirm which report your council triggers, test the targets with modelling, and write commitments a planner can assess and a builder can deliver.
Send us your town planning set and council. We'll confirm the report you need and the fee.
[Why it matters]
An SMP sets the sustainability commitments that council writes into your permit. Get the targets right at lodgement and they flow into documentation and construction. Get them wrong and you're amending endorsed plans, or defending them at VCAT. We write SMPs that a planner can assess quickly and a builder can actually deliver.
A scorecard on its own isn't an SMP. Without the narrative and evidence behind it, the ESD officer sends referral comments and the application stalls.
An untested energy, daylight or water commitment becomes a permit condition. Meeting it later means changing the design, not editing a paragraph.
Design changes during documentation have to be carried into an amended SMP and markups before the conditions can be cleared.
[What is a Sustainability Management Plan?]
An SMP is the detailed ESD report for larger developments under Victorian council ESD policies. It covers the standard ESD categories, including energy, water, stormwater, indoor environment quality, transport, waste, urban ecology, and materials and innovation. It also sets measurable targets for each category.
A smaller-scale version, the Sustainable Design Assessment (SDA), applies to mid-sized proposals.
Outside Victoria, the same job is done by an "ESD report" in NSW, a sustainability management plan or sustainability report under some QLD approvals, and a sustainability statement or Green Star capability report under WA local policies.
Victoria. Mid-sized proposals under a council ESD policy.
Victoria. Larger developments under a council ESD policy.
[What you receive]
Which council ESD policy, threshold and report type apply (SDA, SMP, or the state equivalent).
Built Environment Sustainability Scorecard (BESS) assessment for Victorian projects, with the full SMP narrative and evidence behind it.
Section J or building energy strategy, PV, all-electric services, and EV-ready parking.
Blue Factor or MUSIC modelling, rainwater reuse and WSUD treatment.
Daylight modelling where the policy or design needs it.
Bicycle parking, end-of-trip facilities and EV provision, plus a Green Travel Plan where council asks for one.
Coordination with the Waste Management Plan.
Commitments where elevated council ESD targets apply.
So the commitments are endorsed with the permit.
To council ESD officer referral comments and RFIs.
Condition compliance, endorsed-plan updates and the as-built letter where conditions require one.
Town planning drawings at the stage you're lodging; the site address and council, or the consent authority outside Victoria; any pre-application or referral comments from council's ESD officer; and permit conditions if the permit has already been issued.
[When do you need an SMP?]
Thresholds vary by council and by state. These are the instruments we see most often, followed by the situations clients bring to us.
28 Victorian councils have a local ESD policy in their planning scheme. Melbourne, Maribyrnong and Mildura have their own ESD clauses. Thresholds vary by council. In Manningham, for example, 3–9 dwellings, or 500–1,000 m² non-residential, need an SDA; 10 or more dwellings, or more than 1,000 m² non-residential, need an SMP and a Green Travel Plan. A BESS report on its own does not meet SMP requirements: BESS is the assessment tool, and the SMP is the report built around it. Since Amendment VC267 (gazetted on 6 March 2025 and in operation from 31 March 2025), Clause 55 developments up to three storeys are excluded from local ESD policy. 24 councils lodged the "Elevating ESD Targets" planning scheme amendment in July 2022 to raise ESD expectations, including on embodied carbon, sustainable transport and climate resilience.
The Housing SEARs ask applicants to identify how ESD principles are incorporated in the design and ongoing operation of the development. The listed deliverable is an ESD Report, plus a BASIX Certificate where it applies. The school, hospital and tertiary SEARs also require an ESD Report. Non-residential development under the Sustainable Buildings SEPP 2022 (new buildings with an estimated development cost of $5 million or more, or alterations of $10 million or more) must disclose embodied emissions and address the SEPP's sustainability standards at DA.
In Priority Development Areas, Economic Development Queensland approvals have included a condition to construct in line with an approved Sustainability Management Plan. Before use begins, the applicant must provide as-built evidence and a final report from a suitably qualified sustainability professional. Requirements depend on the PDA development scheme and the approval conditions.
Some local planning policies require a sustainability report at lodgement. The Town of Victoria Park's LPP 46 (adopted 15 July 2025) applies to new non-residential buildings of 1,000 m² GFA or more: the building must be designed to achieve at least 4 Star Green Star or equivalent, and the DA must include a report from a suitably qualified professional confirming the building is capable of achieving it. DevelopmentWA redevelopment areas assign sites to Green Star tiers, with a written statement of sustainable design initiatives at DA.
We build the SMP around your BESS assessment and answer the referral comments line by line.
We update the SMP and markups to match the endorsed plans so the condition can be cleared.
We check the state and council requirements first, then write to that instrument, not a Victorian template.
Sources
[How it works]
Town planning drawings, site address and the council or consent authority.
Report type, modelling and timeframe. Fast-track timeframes are available case by case; timeframes are confirmed at quote.
BESS or the state equivalent, Blue Factor or MUSIC, daylight and energy inputs. We agree initiatives with your architect and engineers before anything is committed.
A council-ready report and plan markups, with RFI and referral responses included.
It depends on your council's ESD policy thresholds, which vary by dwelling count and floor area. Manningham's split, for example, is 3–9 dwellings (SDA) versus 10 or more (SMP).
Not for an SMP. Councils expect a supporting report and evidence.
For Clause 55 developments up to three storeys, local ESD policy no longer applies. Apartments, non-residential buildings and larger projects still trigger.
For State Significant Development, the SEARs list an ESD Report. Non-residential projects over the Sustainable Buildings SEPP thresholds also need the SEPP disclosures. Local DAs follow the council's DCP.
Yes. Where conditions require as-built evidence, we collect the certificates and photos and issue the final compliance letter.
[Why Makao]
Each commitment links to a drawing, a model result or a specification clause, so ESD officers can check it.
Energy, daylight and water are modelled in-house, so targets are tested before they're promised.
Reviewed by Kelvin Mureithi, Founder, Makao · Green Star Accredited Professional, ISAP, Engineers Australia member.
