Last week, in a non-binding vote, residents of a town near Tesla’s sole European assembly plant in Germany overwhelmingly rejected the company’s proposed expansion plans. Now, environmental activists are setting up camps high in the pine trees surrounding that same plant in Germany. Their goal is to thwart the American automaker’s efforts to complete the 420-acre expansion intended to boost production.
The activists started arriving in the forest near Berlin on Wednesday night, and have set up temporary structures high up in the forest’s trees. By doing so, they hope to prevent the automaker’s crews from cutting the trees down, while making it harder for authorities to expel them from the area.
The group leading the protest is called Robin Wood, and says it is responding to a non-binding vote from residents near the plant who opposed the expansion, reports AFP. In addition, they say that the area is a designated water-protection site.
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“Local people here are having their water stolen. And where the raw materials for cars come from, people face exploitation,” Paul Eisfeld, a spokesperson for the activist group, said.
The plant has long run afoul of environmental activists, who said that it threatened the local water supply. The region has also been hit with summer droughts in recent years, leading to concerns about Tesla’s heavy use of resources.
The 740-acre plant near Berlin makes the Model Y, and has been operational since 2022. Tesla now wants to clear forest surrounding it to build a freight station, warehouses, and a company kindergarten, reports The Local. However, more than 60 percent of residents voted against allowing the American automaker to expand the facility.
While the vote is not legally binding, the decision to approve or deny the expansion will be made by the Grunheide municipal council, and Mayor Arne Christiani says that local representatives will not oppose the vote of the citizens.
