Mid and East Antrim Council has responded to the threat of legal action against its determination that the proposed IFA National Football Centre development does not require an Environmental Statement (ES) under the Northern Ireland Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations.

In a letter to Sarah and John Herbison dated 25th August 2026, the Council admits errors in its processes and has accepted that it should conduct a re-screening of the IFA’s planning application in light of this, and in light of additional information received by the Council since.

Sarah and John Herbison had argued in a letter to the Council dated 12th August that even the applicant’s own technical advisors accepted that the proposed development was an “EIA Development” which would require submission of an ES as part of the planning application, but that despite this, the council, on two occasions, has screened the development out of the need for such an assessment.

It continued: “Indeed, the very idea that a twenty-two hectare site in the open countryside being developed for a national football training centre with six football pitches capable of accommodating thousands of people does not constitute EIA development is, on its very face, an absurd proposition”.

The Herbisons provided Mid and East Antrim Council with 14-days to reconsider its determination, otherwise they said the application for a Judicial Review would proceed. The Council’s letter of response came one day ahead of that deadline.

The Council’s letter of 25th August states: “The Council accepts that it erred in law in undertaking the 3 July 2026 screening in that it did not provide adequate and sufficient reasons for the screening determination made. The Council accepts that the EIA Screening Determination dated 3 July 2026 overall did not contain “sufficient information to make it possible to check that it was based on adequate screening carried out in accordance with the” legislation (see Bateman at [9] and [21]-[22]). The Council therefore accepts that the 3 July 2026 screening decision was unlawful.”

It continues: “The Council accepts that it should conduct a re-screening of the application in light of this, and in light of additional information received by the Council since 3 July 2026, including the consultee responses which post-date 3 July 2026 (including those from the Shared Environmental Service and the Environmental Health Department) and the information provided with the pre-action letter dated 12 August 2026. The Council will re-screen the application.”

About the proposed IFA National Football Centre in Galgorm

The proposal is listed on the NI planning portal as “Lands to the north, south, east and west of 125 Fenaghy Road - bounded to the south by Fenaghy Road, bounded to the north by the railway line, Cullybackey, Ballymena, BT42 1EA”.

The proposal is described on the planning portal as “Development of a National Football Centre comprising six football pitches (of which 5 are outdoor and 1 is indoor; of which 3 are hybrid surfaces and 3 are artificial surfaces; of which 3 have floodlights; of which 1 is a community pitch; of which 1 has 1x1100 and 1x500 seater stands and 1 has 1x500 seater stand), a two-storey, multi-purpose building (with training, changing, medical, catering, administration and media facilities), a community pitch building, PV panels, internal access roads, lighting, fencing, car parking, soft and hard landscaping, site accesses from Fenaghy Road and associated operational development.”