One of the less pleasant tasks of a politician is to show dignity even in defeat. Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach, SPD, managed to do this quite well on Tuesday evening. In the municipality of Grünheide it has just become clear that the majority of the population has turned against the car manufacturer Tesla, the broadcaster RBB caught Steinbach in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The result is a “sign of democracy in action,” said Steinbach bravely, and he has great respect for it. Now it’s about taking the citizens’ vote seriously.
The vote result is the first major defeat for Elon Musk and his giga-factory in Grünheide. It is also the first major setback for Brandenburg’s government, which supported the US car manufacturer’s settlement like hardly any other factory building. Despite all criticism, Economics Minister Steinbach repeatedly called the plant a stroke of luck for the state. A diction that the citizens of the recreation area close to the outskirts of Berlin supported – until Tuesday.
For weeks, around 5,400 residents of the community of Grünheide have been called upon to answer the following question: “Should another 100 hectares of forest (in the landscape protection area) in the Grünheide district (development plan no. 60) be converted into an industrial area used for logistics, warehousing and social buildings is being used?” The answer was clear: 3,499 residents voted against and 1,882 for. Tesla had planned to build a train station, a company kindergarten and other storage facilities on the site. These plans are now on hold for the time being.
The citizens’ vote is not binding for the community representatives, who had actually already agreed to draw up a development plan. But the criticism was so great that the citizens had to be surveyed again. Several community representatives had announced that they would follow the Grünheider’s decision. So it was only logical that the municipality’s non-party mayor, Arne Christiani, declared on Tuesday evening that he would respect the result. Christiani has always been a supporter of the Tesla settlement, which brings the community several million in taxes a year. The mayor has now said that he will not be submitting a development plan for the expansion to the local council for the time being.
“Sign of living democracy”: In a survey, the citizens of Grünheide voted against expanding the Tesla factory there.
(Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa)
12,500 people in Grünheide produce 6,000 electric cars a week
Elon Musk decided in 2019 to build his first production facility in Europe in Brandenburg. The plant opened in March 2022 after a record construction period. To achieve this, the Brandenburg state government had repeatedly pushed the limits of building law, for example by granting Tesla a whole series of special permits for the construction of the factory. 12,500 people now work at the plant and produce 6,000 electric cars a week, around 300,000 a year.
While the federal government and state chancellery celebrated the project as a blueprint for future settlements, it was regularly criticized by environmentalists. Hundreds of hectares of pine forest had to be cleared and parts of the plant are in the water protection area. Added to this is the water consumption of the factory itself; after years of drought, Brandenburg is struggling with falling groundwater levels.
The vote was preceded by weeks of campaigning by Tesla and its opponents. The citizens’ initiative Grünheide and the alliance “Turn off the tap from Tesla” said they had had around 1,000 conversations with people in Grünheide by the beginning of February. “Now there is an end to undemocratic exemptions and the scandalous turning a blind eye to environmental and labor violations,” said one of the activists after the successful vote. In order to emphasize the result, the environmentalists are calling for another demonstration on March 10th.
The result is doubly annoying for Tesla, as the company had given up its rather restrictive information policy in recent months. Since the beginning of the year, the car manufacturer has been promoting the expansion with great effort. In January, the factory management invited people to an event at the factory, and a public consultation was offered once a week. Tesla also tried to win over the people of Grünheid with a roadshow through the community.
Nevertheless, the company remained conciliatory after the defeat. “We see that the citizens of Grünheide have concerns in connection with the planned area expansion,” said Tesla on Tuesday evening. The company “remains convinced that the logistical optimization of the plant is a great benefit for the community.” In fact, the consequences of the Grünheid decision for the car manufacturer are likely to be manageable. In any case, the planned expansion of car production itself is not at risk.