Khan urged to reject LED billboards as tall as Big Ben

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 “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.

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 Sphere development will be a vast dome covered in LED screens. It will house an events venue with capacity for 21,500 people and a nightclub.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) is behind the project and is 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. MSG has agreed to review the impact of its moving adverts on locals every five years.

Lyn Brown, the MP for West Ham, said: “The undemocratic LLDC has 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.”

‘The more illuminated the sphere is, the more eye-catching it is, and the more jarring and intrusive’

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 authorities.”

They added that the approval had been subject to “robust review and detailed officer reports”.

An MSG spokesman said: “MSG Entertainment remains committed to bringing MSG Sphere to London and to deliver its many cultural and economic benefits.”