Following detailed review, we consider that the policies proposed within the Draft Kildare County Development Plan 2023-29 – relating to a Proposed Tree Preservation Order (KCC PTPO No. 1 of 2021) and the associated protection of the stand of trees – is both: premature, given that the Planning Authority has not produced a tree survey relating to the trees that would support the inclusion of a statutory policy preserving these trees within the new Development Plan; and misconceived, given the results of an independent tree survey, submitted as part of this Development Plan Submission, which shows that the trees subject to proposed protection are actively decaying and at risk of collapse, posing a significant danger. We wish to highlight to the Planning Authority that, given their current state – which is various states of dying, already dead, and dangerous / hazardous – the protection of the trees at Caragh is not facilitated by legislation.