Clean Air Zone charges will not be waived for Birmingham Ramadan celebrations

Birmingham Central Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Europe, is inside the Clean Air Zone and will attract up to 20,000 people on the day of Eid on May 1.

The council has said that it has no plans to introduce exemptions and that having worked with Birmingham Central Mosque closely, it is aware of the responsibility to advise worshippers during Ramadan, which began on April 2.

In a statement, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “The purpose of the Clean Air Zone is to encourage the owners of the most polluting vehicles on our roads to do something different and it is starting to reduce the levels of air pollution in the city centre.

"There are a range of temporary and permanent exemptions from the Clean Air Zone daily fee and these are providing support to key groups of people through Birmingham’s transition to becoming a clean-air city.

“These groups include residents in the zone, low-income workers and businesses based in the zone. And in addition to the exemptions from the daily fee, the council is providing a range of financial incentives to encourage the adoption of more environmentally-friendly vehicles.

“We want to remind everyone driving into the city centre to check whether or not they need to pay the daily fee and if they do need to pay the fee to consider whether or not they make the journey in some other way – including public transport and other, more active forms of travel.”

The Clean Air Zone is a constant topic of conversation in Birmingham, most recently when the council refused to suspend the fee despite the failure of the West Midlands’ tram system.

In response to the council’s statement, Mohammed Hasham, a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque, said: “Birmingham Central Mosque is not against the Clean Air Zone – anything to enhance the health of the citizens of Birmingham is a welcome thing. However, we are the only large purpose-built mosque that falls within the perimeter of the Clean Air Zone, and obviously, this has an impact on us.

“I don’t particularly recall any special consultation with Birmingham City Council on this, however, we are fully aware of the impact and we have been trying to accommodate our congregation the best that we can. We would like Birmingham City Council to seriously consider the impact of this on our mosque, particularly during the month of Ramadan.

“Not all of our congregation are in a position to have vehicles in compliance with the Clean Air Zone requirements,” Mr Hasham continued, “so Birmingham City Council should extend a period of goodwill towards the congregation such that they accommodate times, for example, on a daily basis from just before the time to break the fast until after the late-night prayers.

“On Eid day we have approximately six congregations which in full would amount to 18,000 – 20,000 people, so we would really like Birmingham City Council to review its exemption policy, at least during this blessed month of Ramadan.”

Chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque Maqbool Ahmed added: “We respect the Clean Air Zone and we know the reasons why it is implemented, it’s just that during this Ramadan period if there is any exemption or review of certain timings when the fast is broken, that would be a great gesture. But we will leave that to Birmingham City Council to consider.”