AEG comment on MSG Sphere and London Legacy Development Corporation’s Planning Decisions Committee

"We are dismayed by the LLDC PDC's decision to sign off the MSG Sphere's advertising strategy for its digital display in the face of strong objections from Newham Council, neighbouring east London boroughs, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the local MP, rail operators, Transport for London, Historic England, and hundreds of local residents, some of whom are represented by local campaign group, Stop MSG.

"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.

"We have concluded that there are at least ten problems with the MSG Sphere's proposed controls for the advertising display. Fundamentally, regardless of the findings of a review after five years, no matter how damaging and intrusive the light pollution is to the health of residents or dangerous to rail or road users, the advertisement consent will not be revoked."

• This evening  (24 January), the London Legacy Development Corporation's Planning Decisions Committee met to decide on the highly controversial advertising strategy for the MSG Sphere music and entertainment venue in Stratford
• Since the MSG Sphere was approved in principle last March 2022, MSG Sphere have been working on how to make the digital advertising display acceptable to the LLDC, and it was only this evening that the proposed controls were ready for consideration
• The obtrusive LED lights – which will number over one million – were subject to the approval of a "five-year review year mechanism"
• The external façade – which will display adverts brighter than Piccadilly Circus - are fundamental to the financial viability of the proposed entertainment venue, but remain the central controversy
• It is almost four years since the planning application for the MSG Sphere was submitted, but the opposition of politicians, residents and many other stakeholders means that it has not been able to proceed
• AEG had concluded that there are at least ten fundamental problems with MSG Sphere's proposed controls for the advertising display
• Local council Newham (and councillors from all the neighbouring boroughs) object to the application, but is not the final decision maker due to leftover powers that lie with the LLDC after the London 2012 Olympics
• AEG calls on the Mayor of London to uphold his election promise to do what's best for Londoners by now directing refusal of the MSG Sphere planning application