A US company has withdrawn its proposal to build a Las Vegas-style immersive “Sphere” venue in Stratford, calling the planning process “a political football between rival parties”.
In a letter to the Planning Inspectorate withdrawing its application, Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) said it was "extremely disappointing" that Londoners would "not benefit from the Sphere's groundbreaking technology and the thousands of well-paying jobs it would have created.”
"After spending millions of pounds acquiring our site in Stratford and collaboratively engaging in a five-year planning process with numerous governmental bodies, including the local planning authority who approved our plans following careful review, we cannot continue to participate in a process that is merely a political football between rival parties."
MSG had hoped to build the LED-clad venue to host concerts, shows and sporting events on a vacant 4.7 acre site last used as a coach park during the 2012 Olympics.
In December, Housing Secretary Michael Gove instigated a review of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's rejection of planning permission for the 21,000-capacity venue.
Khan told BBC London that he “welcomed music venues in London” but rejected the proposal based on “consequences to [local] residents if this globe was to be built, the impacts on them in relation to light, the impact in relation to their amenities and on planning grounds”.