Councillors voted against the company’s plans on Wednesday and supported a motion by Cr Tony Tersteeg to oppose the operations on health grounds.

Cr Tersteeg acknowledged the move would not stop the proposal but he said it made the community’s views clear.

‘‘Stratford and Glen Road residents have continually complained about noise from the existing coal extraction processes at Stratford mine even though at present mining is restricted to daytime hours,’’ Cr Tersteeg told the council.

‘‘The proposed Stratford East pit is planned to extend to within 200 metres of Glen Road.’’ Cr Tersteeg said the benefits of mining should not be gained at the unacceptable cost of residents’ health.

The company proposes to extend the Roseville pit and create two new pits to bring production up to 2.6million tonnes of coal a year.

Resident Steve Robinson believes that, if approved, the extension of the Roseville pit would split the village of Stratford. The company would need to acquire the part of the village that fell within one kilometre of the operations, he said in a submission to the council.

The Stratford mine community consultative committee voted unanimously against the 24-hour operation proposal at its October meeting, Cr Tersteeg said.

The Department of Planning is assessing the company’s proposal.