Residents of Grünheide speak out against Tesla’s expansion plans

• Tesla wants to expand its premises in Grünheide by 170 hectares
• The vast majority of residents surveyed said “no” to the plans
• Municipal representatives do not have to adhere to the vote
• Economics Minister Steinbach: “It’s important to take people seriously!”
• Mayor Christiani no longer wants to present the development plan in its current form to community representatives
  

The expansion plans for the electric car manufacturer Tesla’s factory in Grünheide (Oder-Spree) near Berlin were rejected by the majority in a resident survey. The community announced this on Tuesday evening. 3,499 residents voted no to an expansion and 1,882 voted yes. Although the residents’ vote is not binding for the municipal council, it is considered an important milestone.

In addition to the 300-hectare factory site, Tesla wants to build a freight yard, warehouses and a company kindergarten on an additional 170 hectares. To achieve this, more than 100 hectares of forest will be cleared. This is controversial. There are supporters of the plans, but also rejection of a Tesla expansion.

The mayor of the community, Arne Christiani, regretted the result on rbb24 Inforadio. Apparently it was not possible to convey that other important infrastructure projects were also attached to the development plan – such as the new L386 state road or the station forecourt for the planned new freight station in Fangschleuse. This is clearly related – says Christiani – to the local reporting on the overall project Tesla went into negative territory last year.

But he is not disappointed because that is the vote of the citizens. According to Christiani, he will no longer present the development plan to community representatives in its current form. The consultations would now continue. The next meeting was scheduled for March 14th.

The Brandenburg Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) sees the result of the vote by the residents of Grünheide on the expansion of the Tesla factory as an important vote. It is important to take people seriously, said Steinbach on Tuesday in rbb24 Brandenburg aktuell. Above all, he sees the vote as an opportunity for healing.

What is crucial is that fears and problems become clear, Steinbach continued. Tesla and the community would now have the opportunity to work on the problems and provide convincing answers by May.

Citizens’ initiatives see the no to the expansion of the Tesla factory as a historic victory for forest and water protection – not only in Grünheide, but also for all of Brandenburg and Berlin, as Manu Hoyer from the Grünheide citizens’ initiative explains. After the vote, the “Turn off the tap from Tesla” coalition called on the local council to vote against the expansion. “The no shows that undemocratic exemptions and the scandalous overlooking of environmental and labor violations are now over,” said Lou Winters from the alliance.

Alexander Schirp, general manager of the Berlin-Brandenburg business associations (UVB), explained that the vote was a clear mandate to seek even more intensive discussions and to provide information about the expansion of the plant. This particularly applies to the plan to handle a large part of the plant’s logistics by rail in the future. Since production began, Tesla has ensured unprecedented economic dynamism in the capital region, with thousands of additional jobs and hundreds of training positions, said Schirp. The car manufacturer must remain a blueprint for large-scale projects to be implemented quickly in Germany.

Tesla sees advantages for the region if the development plan goes through. According to the car manufacturer, freight traffic could be relieved with the works station. It is also about more delivery security with storage space. Tesla recently had to stop car production was suspended for around two weeks because parts were missing due to the uncertain situation in the Red Sea.

By expanding the site, Tesla also wants to make it possible to build more cars in the future. The company wants to double production capacity from the current target of 500,000 cars a year to one million. There are currently around 12,500 employees working at the factory in Grünheide, who recently produced 6,000 cars a week – that’s the equivalent of 300,000 vehicles a year.

Around 5,400 people took part in the survey. According to the community, participation was more than 70 percent. All residents of Grünheide over the age of 16 who have lived in the community for at least three months were allowed to vote.

Broadcast: rbb24 Brandenburg aktuell, February 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m