Under the eyes of 200 residents packing the gallery at Tuesday night's meeting, Stirling council voted to request the state government take its Scarborough "land grab" to full community consultation.

At its last meeting, which also drew a crowd, the council had voted to resist the state's request for it to hand over control of the Bush Forever sites that are the site of the planned Esplanade road extension site in Scarborough, deciding to delay the decision to properly examine the issues.

City staff had recommended the council support the request to hand over planning authority of the land to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority as per Planning Minister Donna Faragher's wishes.

"It was standing room only," Beach Not Bitumen community group spokesman Anthony James said of Tuesday's meeting.