Environmental associations complain about Tesla Giga Berlin's incomplete building application documents for the planned Gigafactory, which chat could delay the approval process.
Handelsblatt reports that Tesla is again confronted with risks for its Gigafactory in Grunheide.
The Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke is sure of his cause. So far, he has not known any problem that would stand in the way of a final building permit for the Tesla plant in Grünheide, said the SPD politician at the beginning of October. "I assume that a legally impeccable permit is possible here."
But it's not quite as simple as Woidke portrays it. With preliminary permits and at its own risk, the US electric car company has been pulling its factory 35 kilometers southeast of Berlin for months. If everything goes according to plan, up to 12,000 employees will produce 500,000 vehicles annually here from summer 2021. But now there is new criticism of the project.
After the public discussion of the project documents, nature and environmental protection associations speak up and question the project. "The whole process is unacceptable," said Michael Ganschow, state manager of the Brandenburg Green League, to the Handelsblatt.
Ganschow accuses the Brandenburg state government of wanting to create a fait accompli. His misgivings about the planned Gigafactory at the Grünheide location are great: “Here, a project is being carried out at the wrong location which, due to its dimensions, requires extensive technical control.” An orderly procedure is not possible under this time pressure.
At a public hearing that ended in early October, conservationists and local residents discussed the more than 400 objections with representatives from the State Environment Agency and Tesla. "The discussion gives us the opportunity to answer fact-based," a Tesla spokesman had previously assured. There would be no questions left unanswered.
Associations are calling for the planning documents to be interpreted again
Now the opposite seems to be the case. During the eight-day hearing, objections were raised that could make it necessary to re-interpret the planning documents for the new Gigafactory. The car manufacturer is suddenly faced with risks for its factory again.
The planning documents are still too vague in many places, said Ganschow. "During the hearing, the nature conservation associations demanded various missing documents, plans and expert reports that neither the company nor the authorities delivered in time." That is why her lawyer Thorsten Deppner called for the entire planning documents to be re-interpreted during the discussion. "The proper discussion," said Ganschow, "is only possible if all plans are available to the public."
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
