Newham Mayor accepts Green demands to intervene on MSG Sphere

Councillor Nate Higgins
Councillor Nate Higgins
Councillor Danny Keeling
Councillor Danny Keeling
  • Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz asks Sadiq Khan and Michael Gove to stop the MSG Sphere
  • Councillor Nate Higgins: “I’m thankful to the Mayor but it’s clear without our hard work this would never have happened.”
  • Councillor Danny Keeling: “Residents are really concerned about this and feel helpless.”

The Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz has written to both the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Rt Hon Michael Gove MP asking them to use their powers to refuse the MSG Sphere planning application. This comes after mounting pressure from Stratford Olympic Park councillors Nate Higgins and Danny Keeling, who represent the ward it is proposed to be built in, demanding that she do so.

The MSG Sphere is a proposed new concert venue next to Stratford Station with a capacity of 21,500 which will be encased in an ‘orb’ of advertising LED screens as tall as big ben. The site is surrounded on both sides by residential housing developments.

Green Party Councillor Nate Higgins said: “Residents don’t want the Sphere – it will overwhelm Stratford station which is already at capacity. Residents have told me they will move if it goes ahead, though many are worried about being trapped in negative equity.”

Councillor Danny Keeling, who leads the Green Group at Newham Council, added: “Residents are really concerned about this, they have been let down and feel helpless in stopping this project. It is frankly insulting to new homeowners and renters that black out blinds are the proposed solution to the light pollution caused by this proposal.”

The Mayor’s intervention comes over six months since Newham Council first considered a motion demanding this action, tabled by Green Councillor Nate Higgins, and almost a year since the application was first approved. The topic has been on the agenda of every full council meeting since, in October, November and January, but has never been voted on.

Higgins said: “I’m thankful to the Mayor for listening to me and the residents I represent in sending these letters. There is unity at the council in opposing the Sphere. I don’t know what took her so long – Mayor Fiaz indicated back in August she was willing to write them. Since then she has repeatedly refused to until Council voted on it, while doing nothing to make that happen while her Labour colleagues actively prevented a vote being held on three separate occasions. We understand Mayor Fiaz’s hesitance to cause further friction between her and Mayor Khan, but it’s her job to represent residents on important issues like this as we have demanded, and we’re relieved she has now done so. It’s clear without our hard work this would never have happened.”

The Green Party has been persistently campaigning against the Sphere. In the 2021 London Elections, Sian Berry stood for Mayor of London on a platform of opposing the Sphere, and wrote to the Mayor herself demanding he refuse it in August 2022. Alongside their three different motions, Green councillors have been attempting to work cross-party to Stop the Sphere. They drafted a letter with Labour to Mayor Fiaz asking her to intervene, which they ultimately refused to sign. After receiving no response to their letter, Higgins and Keeling wrote to Mayor Khan themselves in December 2022, asking that he direct the refusal of the application.

Councillor Higgins finished: “Mayor Fiaz has repeatedly indicated that council colleagues would have the chance to sign her letter, including in an amendment she tabled and spoke to herself. It’s bewildering no such opportunity was given, and it’s disappointing that party political divides have prevented us working together on this. We’re delighted to have achieved this step forward and we’ll keep fighting to Stop the Sphere, which will be so damaging to the health and wellbeing of local residents.”

ENDS

Councillor Nate Higgins uses he/him pronouns, and Councillor Danny Keeling uses they/them pronouns.

Notes

by Newham Green Party

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