More than 1,000 objections were lodged against the project, which will come before the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for a final approval vote on Tuesday. Their voices echo the derision Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright and others have parroted against the giant LED display’s ungainly light and noise pollution, murky politics, and sky-high price tag. 

The public consultation process has been delayed several times over, but now appears to be inching towards the finish line, bringing out some of the opposition’s bigger names in a last-ditch effort to stop the Sphere from happening. 

“We are calling on the LLDC to refuse MSG’s application for a new venue in Stratford and encourage the Mayor of London to formally oppose this project in order to protect Newham’s residents and existing businesses from this inappropriate development,” a spokesperson for AEG, which operates London’s O2 Arena said in a letter to the planning body. “MSG’s planning application is hopelessly inadequate and fails to address the issues arising out of its new London context and the specific constraints of the Stratford Site, breaching planning policy in several areas. The proposals would exacerbate congestion at the already over-crowded Stratford Station, and no additional train services are proposed to mitigate the impact on the Jubilee Line.”