Posted on: 19th Jul, 2019 No to CAZ in Highgate. Sign our petition: Here We are a digital marketing agency situated in Highgate and this law will affect us and our clients. The law is to enforce a tax on cars with diesel engines going through the area of Highgate. We have not had any modernisation to this area for at least 20 years, yet Highgate is included in the CAZ scheme. The streets in Highgate are covered in litter and the Council does not have time to clean them but they want to spend millions in cleaning the air. We are all for clean air but not at the expense of our financial livelihood. Is this tax to help clear the air or force the poor out of the area. Sure if you are wealthy you can afford to pay this tax but you have to think about the economic implications on people struggling to make ends meet. We care about this and here is why you should too. Why you should care. There are many schools in the area. Is it acceptable for parents who can’t afford to buy a new vehicle to have to pay this tax just to drop their kids off at school every day? Imagine having to pay £12.50 daily minimum on top of insurance and petrol to just take your children to school. If you thought insurance was high you are going to love how much this will cost a year. Children on average go to school for 180 days per year so you will be paying at least £2,250 a year. Even more, depending on the size of your vehicle. There are a variety of businesses in the Highgate area, ours included. How can we expect our clients to visit us when they have to pay £12.50 just to come by? How do you expect employees to come to work if they also have to pay the tax? As a young person, it is hard enough to buy a car and pay for insurance. But its fine if you have the money isn’t it? This is our point if you have the money then apparently the cleanliness of the air isn’t your problem. People just passing through the area will also have to pay this tax so it could discourage tourists from visiting the Highgate area which will also affect local businesses. Not only does it affect them, Highgate is home to many Religious and Community Centres. Are people not allowed to pray without the council extorting them. If they have to park and walk they will simply shift the un-clean air to a different place and some poor neighbourhood will suffer the sort of parking issues experienced on football match days near a stadium. The car park at Birmingham Central Mosque will become redundant as the entrance is within the CAZ and will cost them £12.50 each time they use it. Opening the gate on the main highway will cause tailbacks and possibly accidents. St Anne’s Catholic church in Digbeth is another place of worship within the CAZ and attendance will suffer. The mainly elderly community arrive by car or get dropped off and picked up next to the church, this change will be like a £12.50 tax on attending church. This won’t clean the air it will cull the community. Visit the link below to support the cause. Petition: No to Birmingham CAZ