Elon Musk wants to build a Tesla factory that will create 100 jobs in Australia – and NIMBYs are furious

The world’s richest person Elon Musk is a step closer to opening a factory in Adelaide despite local opposition. 

On Tuesday night, the City of Marion voted 8 to 3 in favour of selling a 2,600-square-metre parcel of contaminated land, Chestnut Court Reserve, which is currently fenced off due to trichloroethylene contamination to property developer MAB CCT. 

The sale paves the way for a Tesla facility to recover and recycle batteries, along with a service centre and vehicle showroom. 

This decision followed a recommendation by council staff and came despite receiving nearly 1,000 public submissions, with over 90 per cent opposing the project.

According to the council, the development is expected to generate around $56 million in economic activity and create approximately 100 jobs. 

More than half of the submissions were from people living outside the council area, which showed how passionate some South Australians were about rejecting Musk.

Critics raised fears about environmental damage, loss of green space, and Tesla’s corporate reputation.

‘Tesla is a horrible business for the City of Marion to even consider providing this land to,’ one Marion resident said on social media.

One submission against the proposal highlighted some of the concerns locals had. 

‘It will destroy green space in an already cramped housing area. It is important to maintain green spaces not only for the community but also for the local biodiversity,’ it said. 

‘Further, and importantly I do not want to live in a suburb who sells out to profit a man who did a (word redacted) salute and who only has his own (word redacted) interests at heart. To me, selling green space to profit Elon Musk speaks to the values of the council and I want to live somewhere that is considerate and inclusive of all of its residents.’ 

Members of a website ‘Trees Not Teslas’ said the proposed factory would be ‘bringing protests to the area’ and give the region a bad image.

But City of Marion mayor Kris Hanna the factory will create 100s of jobs.

‘The soil of council’s land is contaminated. It’s not safe for recreation, so it makes sense to have it sealed over with a renewable technology facility,’ Mr Hanna said.

‘If we didn’t proceed, it would have cost 100 jobs to local residents, but it would have had no impact on Elon Musk.

‘Tesla would almost certainly find somewhere else in Australia to build their factory.’

‘The soil (at the Chestnut Court Reserve) is contaminated with the chemical trichloroethylene. It is safe if sealed over, such as at a factory and carpark, but not for recreation or gardening,’ he said. 

The application to have Community Land classification revoked will now be reviewed by the Minister for Local Government.

Over 50 trees would be required to be removed. A commitment has been made by the developer to maintain at least 3 of the 4 significant trees on the site. 

The developer has also committed to planting substantially more replacement trees than they are legally required to on the development site.

State premier Peter Malinauskas told the Adelaide Advertiser that he ‘violently disagrees’ with Musk’s politics, but said he he wanted to invest in the state, he is ‘fine with that.’