Sadiq Khan blocked plans for a Las Vegas-style music venue after being warned its dazzling light shows could trigger fits in people with epilepsy, it can be revealed.
The mayor on Monday ordered that planning permission be refused for the MSG Sphere proposed for a site on the edge of the Olympic park, primarily due to concerns about the impact on residents who would have lived beside the proposed 100m-tall illuminated orb.
An independent report commissioned by City Hall that was instrumental in Mr Khan’s bombshell decision – which sparked fury from the US firm behind the £1.5bn development - has been obtained by the Standard.
The report, by WSP, said the Sphere, which would have been covered with exterior LED lights “the size of an ice hockey puck” to broadcast images externally, was likely to have “significant adverse effects” on people living nearby and on the “night-time environment”.
It said children and older people were likely to be worst affected – and people with “metal health issues, dementia, autism, and epilepsy will all be affected to differing degrees”.
It said there was a need to consider the impact of “flicker” from moving or flashing lights or video displays.
“Depending on individual sensitivity, flicker can have effects ranging from visual discomfort, fatigue and decreased visual performance to the onset of some forms of epileptic seizures,” the report said.
This was rejected by Sphere Entertainment, the US entertainment company behind the application.
It said in a statement to the Standard: “The report is a bogus effort to justify a purely political action. There are no issues with epilepsy any more than there are when you install a TV in your home.”
Earlier this week it said it was abandoning plans to open a venue in London after the mayor’s “unconscionable” and “political” decision.
Sphere executives remain bitterly frustrated with Mr Khan's decision, which they struggle comprehend, especially in light of the vast amount of economic investment the Sphere would have generated for a deprived part of east London.
Mr Khan took his decision in private on Monday afternoon. It remains unexplained how the planning application could have been approved a year ago by the London Legacy Development Corporation - the City Hall quango that oversees the Olympic park area - but then be rejected by the mayor.
According to the light consultant's report, residents living near the Sphere would be “very much aware of its presence” and their homes would feel like an “entertainment venue”. As a result, people with anxiety might feel like a “prisoner in their own home”.
The worst-affected residents would be those in Unite Student accommodation, Legacy Tower/Stratford Central, Stratford eye and New Garden Quarter.
Report author Allan Howard, a past president of the Institution of Lighting Professionals, told the Standard: “It’s a known health issue that certain flicker rates can cause adverse effects on humans. Epilepsy is one of those.
“We see regularly that a number of TV programmes warn viewers about flashing lights. It’s just a matter of the frequency and flashing. A certain frequency can trigger health effects.
“This [application] was effectively for a large TV screen. You have got to be very careful about what you show and what you display.
“I’m not saying there is anything that would [definitely cause problems], just that you have got to be careful what you are displaying.”
Mr Howard told the Standard he had not seen the Vegas Sphere in real life and had solely based his report on the information submitted by the applicants about the Stratford Sphere.
Mr Khan, in his decision ordering the London Legacy Development Corporation to refuse planning permission, said this was because of the “significant light intrusion” that the Sphere would cause and the “detriment to human health”.
The report confirmed that the applicants had agreed to reduce the light that would be beamed from the Sphere’s digital facade, from 37 to 25 lux or cd/m2.
There would have been a curfew, meaning it was turned off or placed on standby mode at 11.30pm on weekdays and midnight at weekends until 7am.
When illuminated, there would have been a “considerable adverse skyglow impact” – a noticeable distinctive “glow” contrasting with the night sky.
There has been increasing concern in the potential adverse effects of artificial light, prompting the House of Lords science and technology committee to publish a report on the wider issue.
The report said the offer to fit blinds or curtains to the windows of nearby homes was “not an adequate solution”.
It said: “Occupants should not feel that they must close the blinds / curtains to make the conditions inside their dwelling acceptable.”
According to the visualisations provided by the applicants, the Sphere would “dominate and, in some cases, almost totally occupy the view from their premises”.
