The London Legacy Development Corporation has approved controversial plans for a vast LED advertising screen to wrap around the planned MSG Sphere in Stratford, E20.
The decision gives the final go ahead to the entertainment venue plans before they are referred to the London mayor.
Last night the planning committee of the LLDC met to decide that the controversial advertising strategy for the music and entertainment venue could go ahead.
Plans for the 21,500-capacity spherical arena were approved in principle in March last year, three years after plans were submitted.
But approval was conditional on MSG and the LLDC reaching agreement on how its million-LED-clad skin would be used.
The venue, designed by Populous, will be covered in LED panels designed to display digital content across the entire 90m high and 120m wide façade of the sphere building, which could include “moving images, artistic content and branded advertising”.
MSG outlined how it would meet these controls, including providing blackout blinds for homes within 150 metres and with a direct view of the Sphere. It will be monitored by specially set up Digital Display Monitoring Group.
The LLDC committee concluded that the mitigation was “extensive and appropriate”, but it decided that the consent would be reviewed after five years, “given the unprecedented scale and longer than normal period of the consent being applied for”.
However, the decision has not been greeted warmly by critics of the scheme.
A spokesperson for O2 Arena owner AEG said: “We are dismayed by the LLDC PDC’s decision.”
AEG added: “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.”
The decision will be reviewed after five years, but AEG said there were “at least 10 problems” with the proposed controls for the advertising display, adding that it was unlikely that the consent would be revoked, “regardless of the findings of a review… no matter how damaging and intrusive the light pollution is to the health of residents or dangerous to rail or road users”.
While many local residents have welcomed the development, the MSG Sphere has drawn fierce criticism since plans were first revealed, attracting opposition from Newham and Greenwich Councils, the local MP, Transport for London, rail operators, Historic England, local campaign group Stop MSG and AEG.
AEG 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.”
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