The final decision ends 14 months of uncertainty for wine producers and other agricultural businesses in the Osmington Road area.

It was announced by Environment Minister Bill Marmion after required consultation with other ministers with an interest in the proposal.

"This decision provides the people of Margaret River with certainty that the State Government recognises the uniqueness of the region, both from an environmental and social perspective,” Mr Marmion said.

However, farmer Brent Watson said while the news was “terrific”, he cautioned that it did not provide the ultimate reassurance sought by the campaigners against the proposal.

“There is no end in sight legally,” he said. “(Only) one proposal has been rejected by the EPA so we are not remotely safe and the future remains as unclear as it ever was.”

He stressed anti-mining campaigners were not anti-development, but it would be the Capes region that would suffer any negative outcome of mining, not the mining sector.

“There is only one Capes region, we don’t have a backup, we don’t have a spare, we don’t have an offset,” he said. “Even miners want somewhere to spend their holidays with their family.”

He said today’s decision would not stop campaigners from having to attend the Warden’s Court in their battle against exploration licence applications by Western Coal.

“We remain committed to having west of Sues Road protected from the resource sector,” he said.

The mine had been proposed to operate for 15 to 20 years, with a surface footprint of about 40ha and an underground tunnel network of about 1200ha, including beneath the Margaret River.

Vasse Coal Management Pty Ltd’s agent, LD Operations, submitted the Vasse Coal Project for environmental assessment by the EPA in late November, 2010. The volume of objections crashed the EPA’s new electronic submission computer system and caused the public comment period to be extended.

In May last year, the Environmental Protection Authority reported that serious risks to important environmental values in the Margaret River region, especially surface and groundwater and the consequential impacts on the social surroundings, rendered the proposal environmentally unacceptable.

In December Mr Marmion dismissed an appeal by the proponent and others in objection to the EPA’s recommendation that the coal mine be rejected.