[7] In 1952, the report of an Honorary Royal Commission of the Legislative Council recommended metropolitan planning for the centres of Perth and Fremantle.

Stephenson was recruited to Australia in early 1953 by Dumas, joining newly appointed town planning commissioner Alistair Hepburn in Perth.

[10] Stephenson's plan was identified by George Seddon as giving primacy to the automobile, and responsible for making Perth the worst adapted capital city for public transport.

[11] Other academics note that whilst Stephenson did allow for extensive public transport systems, the implementation was left to state government agencies working within a political culture that favoured the private automobile.

[12] Chief Justice Wayne Martin described the plan as creating "a region which is essentially a network of dormitory suburbs linked by freeways in search of a soul".