Six-lane Stirling Highway row

An unfinished study that proposes widening Stirling Highway to six lanes has forced a planned Claremont residential development to be pushed back 15m from the road's edge.

The original three-storey plan for the development on the corner of Freshwater Parade has also been increased to six storeys to allow for a similar number of units.

Claremont mayor Jock Barker said it was ludicrous that well-ordered planning processes were being hijacked by a study that no-one had seen, that was being promoted by faceless public servants and had not been endorsed by government.

The Stirling Highway Activity Corridor study being undertaken by the WA Planning Commission is believed to support a widening of the highway from Nedlands to Fremantle.

Mr Barker said council officers had been told that to achieve it, sections of 1220 properties would need to be resumed and several buildings, including Claremont council offices and the Claremont war memorial, would have to be moved.

A WAPC spokesman said an amendment to the Metropolitan Regional Scheme - which would rationalise road reservations to allow for the future widening of Stirling Highway - would soon be considered by the Minister for Planning. If approved, the amendment would then be released for public comment.

The spokesman confirmed that the WAPC had already purchased a property at the corner of Stirling Highway and Bayview Terrace, at the request of the landowner, because of the impact of future road reservations on the building.

Premier Colin Barnett, who is also the local Cottesloe MP, confirmed that the study - and the proposed widening of Stirling Highway - had not been endorsed by the State Government.

"The idea is part of a planning process and the State Government has not considered it or made any decision," he said.

If the widening proposal is approved, it would have a direct, personal impact on Mr Barnett - his Claremont home backs directly on to the highway.

The original three-storey residential Freshwater Parade development was approved by Claremont Town Council in December 2010. However, because it did not comply with the road-widening setbacks of the corridor study, it was referred to the WAPC.

After discussions with the Department of Planning, the development application was revised to accommodate the road widening.

"This is Alice in Wonderland stuff," Mr Barker said. "We are being asked to consider a development application on the basis of a study that has not been endorsed in any way, shape or form by the State Parliament."