MSG has officially withdrawn plans for the Stratford Sphere venue after complaining it had become a “political football”.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Sphere Entertainment’s parent company, has written to the Planning Inspectorate, notifying it that it is pulling out of the call in process.
The notification comes less than two months after London mayor Sadiq Khan blocked plans for the 21,500 capacity, 300ft tall entertainment venue in east London.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove had said he would call in the scheme to potentially reverse the mayor’s decision, but MSG decided it did not wish to pursue the project any further.
In a letter to the Planning Inspectorate, MSG Entertainment’s Richard Constable wrote: “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.”
It is now expected to sell its Stratford site.
