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Open Day at Tesla: Citizens' Initiatives Against Expansion Plans
Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa
The electric car manufacturer Tesla promoted the planned expansion of the site to residents at an event at its plant in Grünheide near Berlin on Sunday. Numerous interlocutors, including representatives of Tesla, Deutsche Bahn, the municipality of Grünheide and the Oder-Spree district, provided information about the development plans and infrastructure projects in connection with the project. The decision of the municipal representatives for the development plan is still pending. A residents' survey will start this Monday. There are protests against the plans. Environmental groups and citizens' groups do not consider enlargement necessary and have called for a vote against it.
Tesla wants to build a freight station, warehouses and a daycare center on an area next to the factory premises. More than 100 hectares of forest are to be cleared for the expansion. The company sees a significant benefit for the region if the development plan for the expansion were approved. For example, freight traffic would be relieved if a depot were built.
The development plan means "even more clearing, even more sealing, even more dangers for our water supply, even more construction sites and truck traffic in our community," criticized Manu Hoyer from the Grünheide citizens' initiative. The company does not come close to exhausting its current production capacities. In addition, the expansion of the site was not necessary for the relocation of traffic, the freight station had already been approved in the last development plan. In the coming weeks, the alliance "Turn off the tap to Tesla" wants to campaign for a "no" to the expansion with information materials, posters and "door-to-door conversations".
"For the first time, there is an opportunity for us residents to give our opinion on Tesla's plans. We call on all residents of our community to vote for a livable Grünheide and against the development plan," Hoyer said, according to the statement. So far, according to Mayor Arne Christiani (independent), more than 60 objections have been received by the municipality of Grünheide.
In addition to the planned expansion of the site, Tesla is aiming to expand the factory on the existing site. The company has already acquired 300 hectares for this purpose. The carmaker wants to double production from the planned 500,000 cars a year with the expansion to one million a year. According to the company, it currently produces more than 250,000 vehicles annually.
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