Antrim & Newtownabbey Economic Committee Meeting Highlights March 2026

There was plenty on the table at the latest meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Economic Development Committee, with decisions touching on Glengormley town centre, business grants, housing above shops, local jobs, and even the long-talked-about Knockmore rail link.

For local people, this was one of those meetings where the detail really matters. A lot of what was discussed will shape how our towns look, how local businesses are supported, and how easy it may be to live, work and travel across the borough in the years ahead.

One of the biggest updates was on the Glengormley Public Realm Scheme.

The project has been in the pipeline for some time and is aimed at improving the look and feel of the town centre through better paving, upgraded lighting, new street furniture, landscaping, clearer signage and resurfacing work. The wider goal is to make the area more welcoming for shoppers, residents and visitors while giving local businesses a stronger town centre setting.

The scheme has already secured major funding, but councillors heard that changes have now been made to the scope. Parts of the original plan have been cut back, mainly due to rising costs and practical issues around land ownership, private developments, and the kind of below-ground surprises that can cause delays once work starts.

Even with those changes, the project is still a major one. The current programme points to a public tender in summer 2026, construction starting in November 2026, and completion in early 2028.

For anyone in Glengormley, that means the town centre upgrade is still very much alive, even if it has been trimmed a bit around the edges.

Another item likely to catch local attention was the committee’s backing for a letter of support for the reopening of the Antrim to Lisburn rail line, often referred to as the Knockmore line.

This is one of those ideas that has been floating around for years, but the discussion showed it is still being pushed hard. Councillors were told that the project could bring real gains for local communities, improve access to jobs and training, and strengthen connections to Belfast International Airport.

That airport link is a big part of the argument. Better public transport to the airport has long been seen as a gap, and the reopening of the line would also tie in with wider development around the airport and Nutt’s Corner.

The council had already backed the idea in the past, and this latest move keeps that support on the record.

A very practical decision was taken on the Living Over the Shops scheme, which is designed to bring vacant or underused upper floors in town centres back into use as homes.

Three more projects are now set to move forward, two in Antrim and one in Glengormley. Together, they would create 16 residential units.

The properties involved are on Market Square and High Street in Antrim, and Hightown Road in Glengormley.

This may not be the most headline-grabbing item on the agenda, but it could make a real difference. More people living in town centres can help support local shops, add life to quieter streets, and make better use of buildings that have been sitting underused for years.

The council approved letters of offer worth a combined £462,500 for these projects, bringing the total committed through the programme so far to £627,500.

Seven grants were approved under the Out of Town Centre Shopfront Improvement Programme, with a total value of just under £24,000.

These grants cover visual improvements such as painting, signage and window dressing rather than major structural work. The aim is simple enough: make smaller commercial areas outside the main town centres look better and feel more attractive for shoppers.

Sometimes these schemes can sound minor on paper, but anyone who has walked past tired-looking frontages knows how much appearance shapes first impressions. Brighter, smarter shopfronts can lift a whole street.

A further call for applications has also opened, so more businesses may yet benefit.

The committee also got an update on the Local Economic Partnership and the funding attached to it.

For Antrim and Newtownabbey, the overall programme allocation is £2.868 million up to March 2028. The borough’s share is among the lowest in Northern Ireland, but work is now moving ahead on a range of projects.

One part already showing demand is the Business Digitisation Programme, which offers grants between £1,000 and £5,000 to help firms improve productivity and digital capability. Councillors were told that dozens of expressions of interest had already come in.

Two grant awards were approved at the meeting, one for Dynamic Fire and Security and one for Training Solutions.

There was also discussion of longer-term plans covering Global Point, green business support, workspace development, digital mentoring, export support and productivity improvements.

For local business owners, that means more schemes are on the way, especially in digital upgrades, energy efficiency and growth support.

The committee agreed that Labour Market Partnership projects for 2026 to 2027 can move ahead at risk, even though the formal letter of offer from the Department for Communities has not yet arrived.

That might sound technical, but the reason is fairly straightforward. In past years, funding letters have arrived late, which squeezes delivery time and makes it harder to run the full programme properly. Rather than sit and wait again, councillors agreed that work should begin so projects are not held up.

The overall expected budget for the partnership is just over £549,000, including a council contribution of £45,100.

For local people looking for work, training or new opportunities, this is the kind of behind-the-scenes decision that can help keep support programmes moving when they are needed.

The council also agreed to take title sponsorship of the Antrim and Newtownabbey Business Awards 2026 at a cost of £8,000.

The awards, due to take place at the Dunadry Hotel in October, will celebrate local firms across a wide range of categories, including manufacturing, customer service, start-ups, sustainability and family business.

Councillors did ask for more clarity around borough-wide participation and whether other enterprise agencies were involved, but they still backed the sponsorship.

For local businesses, the awards could become a useful platform for recognition, especially after the gap since the last council-linked business awards before Covid.

There was also discussion around the council’s international relationships, including links with Gilbert in Arizona, Rybnik in Poland, Dorsten in Germany and Leshan in China.

A proposed wider discussion on future international links, including a possible fact-finding trip to China, was deferred to a future elected member workshop.

One decision was made though. One elected member and one officer will attend the Rybnik event in June.

This part of the meeting may not feel as close to home as town centre investment or transport, but councillors were clearly weighing how international partnerships can bring value without becoming a drain on local resources.

Taken together, the meeting painted a picture of a council still heavily focused on regeneration, business support and town centre renewal.

The standout issues for many residents will likely be the Glengormley public realm scheme, the backing for the Knockmore rail link, and the move to create more homes above shops. Those are the items with the clearest day-to-day link to how people live, travel and spend time in the borough.

There was also a strong theme running through the meeting around making better use of funding, moving projects ahead faster, and trying to keep momentum going even when outside departments move slowly.

For local people, that is probably the main takeaway. A lot of these plans are still works in progress, but several are edging closer to becoming something residents will actually see on the ground.

Read the full minutes of the Economic Committee March 2026 meeting here.

Keep up to date with all the council meetings that are held throughout the year.

Source: Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council