GLOUCESTER residents will petition the NSW Government to get rid of coal licences from their area after confirmation the Rocky Hill coal mine will not proceed.
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Mine proponent Gloucester Resources has confirmed it will not pursue a Supreme Court appeal after the controversial project was refused in a landmark court decision in February that included consideration of greenhouse gas emissions for the first time.
"This means the Rocky Hill coal mine will not proceed," Gloucester Resources said in a short statement. The company "will now carry out further assessment of its current exploration licences in the area".
Groundswell Gloucester chairperson Julie Lyford said she shed a tear when the decision was announced after campaigning since 2004 to stop coal seam gas and the coal mine from establishing in the area.
"I had a little tear but then the elation took over," Ms Lyford said.
"It's awesome news. Everybody's just ecstatic. Affected residents are absolutely delighted they can now get on with their lives because the uncertainty and anxious waiting is over.
"It is the end of the end for this mine."
But while the Rocky Hill mine is over, the Gloucester community will continue its campaign to end all coal licences in the area.
"We have 6000 signatures on a petition to get rid of the licences and that's what we're now going to do," Ms Lyford said.
The Gloucester Resources decision not to appeal meant Land and Environment Court Chief Judge Brian Preston's landmark decision in February would not be considered by a higher court.
Justice Preston said the Rocky Hill mine was in the wrong place "because an open-cut coal mine in this scenic and cultural landscape, proximate to many people's homes and farms, will cause significant planning, amenity, visual and social impacts".
It was also in the "wrong time because the (greenhouse gas) emissions of the coal mine and its coal product will increase global total concentrations of (greenhouse gases) at a time when what is now urgently needed, in order to meet generally agreed climate targets, is a rapid and deep decrease in emissions".
Ms Lyford said while an appeal could have more firmly established Justice Preston's ruling, the decision still stood.
The end of the Rocky Hill mine meant "the community can now move forward with progressive and sustainable industry".
AGL's withdrawal from its Gloucester gas field project in 2016 and February's Rocky Hill mine decision had led to house prices rising and new builds were "in hot demand", Ms Lyford said.
Tourism visitation at Easter was also very strong.
"Gloucester has always been a desirable destination to visit, live and grow the economy," Ms Lyford said.
"With climate change threatening everyone and everything on the planet, we owe it to this and future generations to step away from fossil fuel, embrace renewables and work towards just transitions."
