A development plan to expand the Tesla site has been decided. But there is resistance.
The Brandenburg Nature Conservation Association (Nabu) is in the process of exploring legal remedies against the development plan to expand the factory site of the US electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin. “We will first check what points of attack we have,” said state chairman Björn Ellner to the German Press Agency. “A lawyer has been hired.”
It is also unclear whether associations or initiatives will join the lawsuit. On Thursday, the community representatives of Grünheide decided by a majority on the controversial development plan for an expansion of the factory site to build a freight station and logistics areas. Forests should be cleared for this purpose.
Almost two thirds of Grünheide’s citizens rejected the car manufacturer’s original expansion plans in a survey in February. A compromise then called for clearing just under 50 hectares of forest instead of over 100 hectares. The car manufacturer Tesla points out that more than 70 hectares of forest will now be preserved and the region will be relieved of truck traffic with the freight station.
Nabu state chief Ellner described the community representatives’ decision as a “bitter blow for democracy and the environment”. He fears that the region’s livelihoods will be impaired. Environmental activists have been protesting against Tesla near the factory in Grünheide in Brandenburg since the end of February. The protest continues. Around 12,000 employees work at the plant.
Source: Stern
