As was expected by many, Tesla has been up against a multitude of obstacles during the construction of its upcoming Gigafactory near Berlin. It is well-known that Germany makes companies work through a ton of red tape, though the bigger issues have come from local environmental groups.
As reported by our friends at Teslarati, there were already additional discussions from concerned folks and groups earlier this month. In fact, some 800 objections were raised at at online meeting in October 2021. However, the groups joined forces and went after the Brandenburg Office of the Environment for not giving people enough time to plan for attending the online conference since the date was announced too late.
As we previously reported, thanks to the above, the entire online objection and complaint process had to be repeated in November. However, despite the complete "do over," the groups are requesting that the process happens again. More specifically, a Welt report suggests that environmental groups expect another round of public talks ahead of any potential approval of Tesla's applications, which would allow the plant to open and begin producing vehicles.
People from BUND, Green League, Nabu, and NaturFreunde issued a joint report pushing back against the earlier talks and related documents. According to Teslarati:
"The groups criticized, among others, that some parts of the talks were no longer blacked out, and some documents and additional requests were missing."
Apparently, the joint groups have brought up issues all over again, such as a suggestion that an accident report wasn't interpreted, some of the group's statement were ignored in the recent online talks, and they're still concerned about the Tesla factory's impact on the location's natural habitat and drinking water.
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We'll have to wait and see if another round of discussions come into play. However, at this point, all previously schedule talks have ended, and Tesla is still waiting for approval.
Brandenburg Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach noted that he doesn't expect any more huge issues going forward, and he anticipates approval before the end of the year. In addition, Teslarati reminds that Elon Musk also seems confident Giga Berlin will receive official approval prior to the end of 2021.
Source: Teslarati