Yahoo Finance Sadiq Khan urged to reject plans for advertising billboards as tall as Big Ben in East London
Sadiq Khan is being urged to block plans for an LED advertising dome as tall as Big Ben in East London after local officials gave the plans the green light.
Developers of the new “Sphere” music and event venue in Stratford have won local approval to run adverts on LED screens across the face of the building after agreeing to install blackout blinds in nearby homes to block out the lights.
The plans have attracted opposition from local residents, councils and Historic England, which has called it “jarring and intrusive”.
Proposals will now go to the desk of the Mayor of London for approval, with Mr Khan facing calls to reject the plans.
The new “Sphere” development in East London will be a huge dome covered in LED screens. It will house an events venue with capacity for 21,500 people and a 1,500 person nightclub.
The Madison Square Garden Entertainment Company (MSG) is behind the project and is currently constructing another “Sphere” in Las Vegas. It was granted planning permission for the London project last year but still required approval for its controversial advertising plans.
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which oversees building projects in the former Olympics 2012 park where the “Sphere” will be based, granted permission for MSG to display adverts on its dome for 25 years on Tuesday night.
It came after MSG agreed to install blackout blinds in nearby houses and review the impact of its moving adverts on locals every five years.
LLDC has agreed despite objections from nearby councils including Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham, as well as local residents, MPs and businesses.
Lyn Brown, the MP for West Ham, said: “Last night the undemocratic LLDC allowed the monstrous MSG Sphere to progress further.”
Historic England said: "The more illuminated the sphere is, the more prominent and eye-catching it is, and the more jarring and intrusive we consider its impact on its setting to be.”
AEG, the owners of nearby venue the O2, said it was “dismayed” by the LLDC’s decision and urged Mr Khan to overrule it.
A spokesman said: “We call on the Mayor of London to uphold his election promise to do what’s best for Londoners, including the residents of Newham who are having this huge development forced on them, by directing refusal of the planning application.
“The advertising façade is at a wholly unprecedented scale for London and totally out of keeping with the surrounding area. The design was conceived for the heart of Las Vegas and has been transposed onto this east London site: it’s the wrong design, in the wrong location.”
An LLDC spokesman said: “The proposed MSG Sphere has been one of the most complicated applications considered by the planning authority involving significant consultation with local people, businesses and other authorities.
They added that the approval had been subject to “robust review and detailed officer reports”.
An MSG Entertainment spokesman said: “MSG Entertainment remains committed to bringing MSG Sphere to London and to deliver its many cultural and economic benefits, including creating thousands of jobs and generating billions of pounds for the local, London and UK economy.”
