Our statement on the failure to deliver Mayar Square

A visualisation of how a street with two tower blocks and park railings could be transformed. There are bollards and an archway with different shapes. Above the arch is 'Mayar Square' in letter signage. There are benches and new planting. Children play in the space, while people sit on benches and walk through the space. Someone sits at the bottom of the arch which is also a bench.

We are frustrated and saddened that commitments made by Birmingham City Council and its political leadership to trial Mayar Square have not been kept.

Mayar Yahia was killed in April 2024 as she walked home along the pavement on Upper Highgate Street with her family and friends. 23-year-old Javonnie Tavenner has since been convicted of causing her death by careless driving.

Upper Highgate Street is known locally as a hotspot for dangerous driving and speeding, and it is therefore vital that Birmingham City Council takes action to prevent further tragedy.

The local Highgate community came together with a range of advocacy organisations to create a memorial to Mayar. The result was a proposal to use local ward funds to create Mayar Square, a pedestrianised section of street (see artist’s impression of what Mayar Square could look like).

The idea for Mayar Square was adopted at the local ward forum in January 2025. The plans have been developed further by the community and successful trial days took place in 2024 and 2025.

In November 2025, signs were put up and markings sprayed ready for contractors to make changes to the road on a trial basis, where people could submit feedback to the Council. At the last possible moment, the trial was put on hold.

We understand that what has followed is a series of fundamental errors by the Council, resulting in decision-making based on a report that discounts local support while including out-of-area objections.

The trial has not been delivered and it is not certain that allocated funding remains available.

Since the fatal collision, there have been more near misses caused by dangerous driving on Upper Highgate Street, adjacent to a children’s park in a neighbourhood where half of households do not drive.

We are now calling on Birmingham City Council to finish the job: to give the community a peaceful street, free from dangerous drivers, where families and children can feel safe as they walk to school or go to the park.

Better Streets for Birmingham

Better Streets for Birmingham is a community group which campaigns for changes to our travel and planning infrastructure to improve the sustainability, efficiency and safety of our streets. We believe that through connecting Birmingham to reduce car dependency, we will make it a more pleasant place to work, live and play.