If your land is subject to an SBO or is prone to stormwater flooding, the following would help you obtaining a flood advice or consent to your plan for a VicSmart permit application:

• You can know whether your land is affected by SBO or stormwater flooding by a few ways like emailing us, from the property report or websites like Greater Geelong Planning Scheme Maps (linked in the related articles). 
• If unsure, please contact our Planning Department to know whether you require a planning permit (PP) to build. A PP is generally required for development works on a land subject to SBO. Exemptions to this can be found in the Greater Geelong Planning Scheme Ordinance Clause 44.05 (same website as stated above).
• Please obtain a flood advice at an early stage of the preparation of your building/ development plan. This is to avoid any unwanted objection to your PP application.
• If you are eligible for VicSmart PP, please obtain an SBO Consent prior to applying for PP. Ideally, your plan should be in line with our flood advice you obtain earlier from us. 
• To proceed with VicSmart PP application, you will need to submit the consent documents (report and stamped plan) to the City's Planning Department, together with other requirements from the VicSmart checklist.
• In absence of a building plan, you can obtain indicative flood advice and information like flood levels, required floor levels, flow velocity, general requirements etc to help planning.

Note: We do not provide advice or consent over the phone. Please apply for a Flood Advice or SBO Consent by downloading and emailing the application form or apply online via City's weblink (one available on this page). Our response time varies from one to four weeks.