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Place name sign for Freienbrink, community Grünheide: Construction with preliminary approval
Photo: Hannibal Hanschke / REUTERS
“There are countries where something is going on.
There are countries where something is really going on.
And there is Brandenburg, Brandenburg «has already
Rainald Grebe sung 15 years ago.
He brought to the point what state governments are still grappling with today: too little dynamism in the country to attract or retain young people.
Since the announcement by Tesla boss Elon Musk in Grünheide to build a car factory and soon also a battery factory, those responsible in Potsdam apparently believe that they can change things for the better.
Because: If you want to keep the young people in Brandenburg and "that they start their families here and no longer leave our state, then we have to give them jobs here," said Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) on rbb-Inforadio.
The Tesla factory holds this opportunity.
No special rules for Tesla in Brandenburg
But is the state government too uncritical in its anticipation?
Opponents of the factory accuse those responsible of looking less strictly at Tesla.
Steinbach turned on Inforadio against the charge of issuing special rules for the US automaker.
Building with preliminary permits has been possible since 2017.
Tesla plans to build around 500,000 compact Model 3 and Model Y cars in Grünheide near Berlin every year.
Company boss Musk wants to turn the future plant of the electric car manufacturer near Berlin into the world's largest battery factory.
So far, Tesla has been building through individual provisional approvals because the complete environmental approval from the state of Brandenburg is still pending.
Conservationists and local residents fear negative consequences for the environment.
"But we are not yet at the point that everything is dry."
more on the subject
Battery production: Brandenburg is waiting for an application for Tesla's record factory
Factory in Grünheide: How much does Tesla pay?
The Minister of Economic Affairs, however, still sees unanswered questions - especially for water consumption when the Tesla factory is expanded further.
"The water has to come from further away without having any interactions with the regional environment," said Steinbach.
Something still needs to be done with the infrastructure for sewage.
He is optimistic that this can be resolved.
"But we're not yet at the point where all of this is dry." The expansion also depends on the market.
The water supply has been clarified for the first phase of the plant.
The managing director of the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Union (NABU), Christiane Schröder, spoke on Inforadio of "massive stomach aches" because of the Tesla project, including the water.
In the immediate vicinity of the site are two European protected areas (Natura 2000), which largely depend on the water balance, she said.
The Grünheide citizens' initiative is calling for construction to be halted until the result of a public survey for the settlement is available.
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yes / dpa-AFX
