A Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO) is the strongest environmental designation available to any planning authority, not least because it must be endorsed by the Minister for the Environment and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.
Making an SAAO is a reserved function of the elected members of a local authority, under the 1963 Planning Act, to protect an area of outstanding natural beauty and/or special recreational value or where there is a need for nature conservation.
An SAAO is the only type of detailed statutory local plan available under Irish planning legislation and, once made, it provides secure protection for areas of high landscape quality and special recreational value against pressures for development.
Only two such orders are in force - one for the Liffey Valley, made in 1987 and confirmed three years later, and the other for Bull Island, made in 1994 and confirmed in 1995. A proposed SAAO for Dublin Bay, made in 1977, was rejected as too vague.
In the case of Howth, there has been a long-running campaign seeking special amenity status to protect the peninsula. It was in response to this campaign that the then Minister, Mr Brendan Howlin, directed Fingal County Council to make an SAAO in October 1996.
Following this direction, the council's planning committee decided that the West Mountain area should be added. The Natural Resources Development Centre at Trinity College was then commissioned to carry out a detailed survey of the peninsula and the nearby Ireland's Eye island.
Based on its report, the council prepared a document for public consultation prior to presenting a final draft order to the members for their consideration and decision.
This order will be publicly exhibited for at least one month, probably in the autumn.
A copy of the proposed order, together with any objections, would then be submitted to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey. After a public local inquiry is held, he may decide to confirm the order with or without modifications or refuse to confirm it.
If he decides to confirm the order, it would be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas for 30 days. Assuming that they decide not to annul it, the order would automatically come into legal effect and would then be reviewed by Fingal County Council every five years.