Residents from the Fenaghy Road area and beyond gathered on Thursday evening at the Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena to discuss the proposed IFA National Football Centre development in their local area.

Those in attendance heard presentations from some of those involved in the Right Facility, Wrong Location campaign about the scale and significance of the proposed development, as well as about legal action against a determination by Mid and East Antrim Council relating to the environmental impact of the proposal.

The Right Facility, Wrong Location campaign is opposing the proposal on the basis that the site at Fenaghy Road is not an appropriate location for such a development and has the potential to cause issues with traffic, noise and light pollution, as well as environmental and countryside issues.

Dozens of residents have already objected to the planning application on the NI Planning Portal.

At the event, Right Facility, Wrong Location spokesperson, Sarah Herbison, and planning consultant, Una Sommerville, outlined how the IFA planning application is for a national scale football training facility, off a minor rural road, on 22 hectares of open countryside and farmland with:

• Six pitches, five outdoor plus indoor, three floodlit

• 2,100 spectator seats

• 13,475 sq m flagship building with training, medical and media facilities

• 597 car parking spaces

• 30m high floodlight masts

They also outlined that, during the construction phase, experts estimate there would need to be 10,000 HGV (heavy goods vehicle) movements for the earthworks required for the scheme, a huge amount for a narrow rural road. They said that the Fenaghy Road was already an unsafe road, and that there would be poor visibility at the proposed new access to the site.

Attendees also heard about the concerns of local businesses and charities who operate in the local area, Galgorm Parks Riding School and Riding for the Disabled. Founded decades ago by Sara Kyle, Galgorm Parks Riding School is used by Riding for the Disabled and children with autism and disabilities. Owner Sara Kyle and representatives of Riding for the Disabled have spoken about the impact the proposed development could have on their important work and the very existence of the riding school through a potential impact on insurance. Commenting, Sara Kyle of Galgorm Parks Riding School, who is backing the campaign, says: “If we cannot get insurance, the riding school cannot operate. It is as simple as that.”

During a Q&A section of the event, residents in attendance expressed concerns about the potential impact of the construction phase and the long term operation of the proposed development on congestion and road safety, noise and light, visual impact, disruption and more.

Attendees also heard that key figures in the Right Facility, Wrong Location campaign, Sarah and John Herbison, have sent a letter before action to Mid and East Antrim Council through solicitors outlining their intention to seek a judicial review of the council’s determination under the Northern Ireland Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations that the proposed development does not require an Environmental Statement (ES).

The letter argues 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 continues: “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 have provided Mid and East Antrim Council with 14 days to reconsider its determination, otherwise the application for a Judicial Review will proceed.

The letter concludes: “Council has an opportunity now to reflect on its conduct and to take steps to avoid unnecessary and costly litigation at an early stage of its processing of this application which will only serve to undermine public confidence and trust. All that is asked is that the Council properly discharges its obligations under the Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017 by subjecting this application to the scrutiny it properly demands.”

Residents wishing to comment on the application can do so via the Northern Ireland Planning Portal.