The Sphere in Las Vegas is a 21,500 was first announced in 2018 by the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group and would have been the largest arena by capacity in the UK. The plans for the venue would have had the Sphere lighting up the Stratford area adjacent to the Westfield Shopping Centre and the Olympic Park.

When plans were originally presented for the London site in 2018 it received the support of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan and then-Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock. Network Rail originally had an objection to the venue, but then withdrew the objection as the plans became clearer in 2019.

Plans were drawn up to include a smaller 1,500 capacity venue inside the sphere to support smaller grassroots. A complex including shops and restaurants were also drawn up within the plans. A 2019 application informed that thousands of jobs would be made available with the new project, however thousands of residents had objected to the venue’s construction and concerns were raised by the London Assembly Environment Committee about light levels.

The project gained planning approval on March 22nd 2022, with the next steps being a review from the Mayor of London as well as a legal planning agreement. However, it has now been revealed that the venue has not passed the review from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

A spokesperson for Khan said: “London is open to investment from around the world and Sadiq wants to see more world-class, ambitious, innovative entertainment venues in our city. But as part of looking at the planning application for the MSG Sphere, the mayor has seen independent evidence that shows the current proposals would result in an unacceptable negative impact on local residents.”

Full statement from me as local councillor for Stratford Olympic Park as @SadiqKhan has today FINALLY rejected the MSG Sphere in his stage 2 decision. pic.twitter.com/4xGoeuqUeV

— Nate Higgins (@natehiggins) November 20, 2023

Local councillor Nate Higgins, who has been campaigning against the Sphere being built in Stratford said: “Absolutely delighted to share that our campaigning on behalf of residents in Stratford Olympic Park alongside Against the MSG Sphere London has paid off, and Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London has today rejected the MSG Sphere planning application in his stage 2 decision. London’s cultural venues are incredibly important, but this application was always inappropriate for the site and the 25-year advertising consent the applicants demanded shows they were not interested in contributing to our capital’s cultural scene – but bombarding the residents of Stratford with endless advertising,”.

With the city exciting a long national lockdown, the Mayor explained: ‘Let’s Do London is the biggest tourism campaign our city has ever seen. The reason it’s so important is that the last 15 months have been incredibly tough for us. But I also recognise not just the intrinsic enjoyment we get from retail, culture and hospitality, but that one in five jobs in London are in those areas. We’ve got to make sure that we bounce back as quickly as possible to avoid mass unemployment, leading to a massive recession.’

Hence, Mayor Khan recognises the importance of culture and entertainment for London, and the urgency to bring them back in action: ‘So Let’s Do London is about bringing all the key players in London together: The Globe, the National Theatre, the Southbank, the V&A, the O2, great chefs, great artists like David Hockney, great live music venues, pubs, bars and restaurants. We want to make sure that this summer is the best summer we’ve ever seen’ He said to Time Out.

With the next stage of the roadmap out of lockdown going on on as planned from May 17th, ‘Let’s do London’ promises a rejuvenated sense of what the city does well: as Khan put it, ‘I think our city reopening will allow us to get our mojo back.’ More info on the ‘Let’s do London’ campaign can be found here.

Khan said in a statement that the move was “vitally important” for emerging artists in the city to make a viable living from their art. He went on to emphasise the importance of busking to London’s culture, citing its necessity if the city is to “maintain its status as a global capital of music”.

The mayor also emphasised the importance of allowing new musicians to gain experience in the city,  mentioning London-based artists from “Adele to Stormzy, and The xx to Dua Lipa” that have represented the capital in the global music scene.

Acting as the public face of the scheme is full-time busker and street performer Charlotte Campbell, who explained that in just two weeks, the ability to accept cashless payments had “had a significant impact on the contributions [she’d] received”. She also explained the adapt or die nature of the street performance industry, warning that in the “cashless society we are edging towards”, failure to change could result in buskers becoming a “dying art”.

iZettle have already teamed up with Busk In London to roll out the scheme to London’s 32 boroughs, and plans to reach out to buskers elsewhere, but the project is not only limited to the street performance industry. iZettle have also announced their intention to give the technology to charities, non-profits and small businesses, allowing them to receive donations and payments alike more easily.

The club released a statement which has as its headline, ‘You saved Fabric’ before going on to say in full, ‘We owe everything to our supporters. We really would not be here today without your unparalleled support and generosity. So many different people stepped up to put their voices to our cause, artists from all corners of the music community, fellow promoters who have put on huge events from us and clubbers from around the world who all united behind us. We’ve even seen people sporting their #savefabric T-Shirts on the other side of this planet showing just how big this thing is. So, thank you to all of you. Without the strength of your backing this would not have happened. You saved Fabric. We’ll be back with some news about #saveourculture and our next steps when we can.’

New conditions on the club’s license as part of the agreement include a ban on under-19s at weekends, as well as a ‘zero tolerance’ drug policy – all of which is intended to help fulfil their promise that the club will operate to a ‘gold standard.’

Just as the reaction from the music community to the news that fabric would close was immediate and vociferous, so too has been the reaction to this latest development. Friction, Novelist, Katy B, Scuba, Daniel Avery and Loadstar all took to Twitter to voice their happiness following the decision. DJ Goldie, who had previously threatened to melt down his MBE in protest at the closure, also expressed his delight on the social network. Jon Hopkins went further, writing, ‘I want to DJ at @fabriclondon.’ Even Police Superintendent Nick Davies, of Islington police, referred to the significance of the venue for London’s music scene, stating, as The Independent reported, ‘I know Fabric is a venue that holds a great deal of affection in people’s hearts.’

Sadiq Khan, who along with Amy Lane, London’s ‘night czar’ – a position created by Khan – have supported Fabric throughout the process. Reacting to the decision, per The Guardian, he said, ‘I’m delighted that agreement has been reached and that Fabric will now reopen. The issues faced by Fabric point to a wider problem of how we protect London’s night-time economy, while ensuring it is safe and enjoyable for everyone. Over the past eight years, London has lost 50% of its nightclubs and 40% of its live music venues. This decline must stop if London is to retain its status as a 24-hour city with a world-class nightlife.’

Although, today’s news means that Fabric can re-open there is, as yet, no scheduled date for that to happen. Indeed, Time Out reports that the authorities stress that it is unlikely to be within the next few weeks. In a statement, they clarified that, ‘Fabric will not re-open until they [authorities] believe that they comply with their new conditions.’ Again, mxdwnUK will report on any further developments.