The purpose of this submission is to ask the Council to make an addition to the proposed Green Infrastructure Network by including the high ecological and diversity value country estate and demesne lands of Gowran Grange in Swordlestown as a ‘stepping stone’.

For multiple reasons the Gowran Grange estate and demesne qualifies as an area of high biodiversity and high ecology.

It merits inclusion in the Kildare County Development Plan both on its own merits and because it provides significant linkages between other identified critical green infrastructure as presented in the Draft Plan.

This is set out in more detail in the report attached.