28-05-2025
Tesla battery factory at Tonsley one step closer despite 'anti-Elon' sentiment
An Adelaide council has paved the way for the potential approval of a Tesla battery factory in the southern suburbs, despite strong opposition described as the "anti-Elon factor".
The City of Marion voted eight to three on Tuesday night in favour of asking the state government to remove the community land status of Chestnut Court Reserve in Tonsley.
Removing its community land status would allow the reserve to be sold to a developer for the construction of a Tesla factory, which, according to council documents, would be used for battery repurposing, vehicle servicing and a showroom.
The vote followed a public consultation period in which 95 per cent of respondents — made up of 948 survey submissions plus six written responses — did not support the proposal.
The key themes for respondents who did not support the proposal were the loss of trees and open public space as a result of the development, the environmental impacts from a manufacturing facility, the wish for the land to be used as social housing, and a "strong ideological opposition to Elon Musk and Tesla".
A report prepared for the council noted that Chestnut Court Reserve has not been accessible to the public since 2016 and is "not fit for purpose as open space recreation due to historical contamination", and that the developer was "committed to replanting or offsetting" the impact on trees.
It also said the proposal would provide about 100 full time jobs and an estimated $56 million in "economic output", and noted that Telsa would proceed with its plan in a different location if the Tonsley plan was unsuccessful.
Some of the respondents' views on Tesla's chief executive officer Elon Musk were redacted in the council's report, but many were opposed to the development due to what one respondent described as his "unpopular behaviour".
"Private entities should not be allowed to purchase public land. Especially land with many significant trees on it, even if that land isn't currently accessible to the public," one response read.
The council's report stated that the project's benefits of "employment, innovation, emissions reduction and utilisation of land that is contaminated" outweighed the "geopolitical or symbolic criticisms expressed in submissions".
City of Marion Mayor Kris Hanna said the "anti-Elon factor" expressed by a "large cohort of residents opposed to the project" was taken into account and "balanced against the economic factors".
"[It's] certainly a very attractive idea to have 100 extra full-time jobs in the area," Mr Hanna told ABC Radio Adelaide.
He said the other key issue was the clearing of more than 50 trees on the vacant site but said they received reassurance from the developer that at least three "significant" trees would be left.
"They assured us that for every regulated tree that was removed they would plant two trees and for every significant tree removed they would plant three trees," Mr Hanna said.
"There are strong feelings about it, but there are also economic reasons which can't be ignored."
The minister for local government will need to sign off for the community land classification to be revoked.
On Monday, Premier Peter Malinauskas said while he "would violently disagree with many of the views that Mr Musk espouses", he welcomed "any big major industrial investment in our state".
"I mean, you can't have a situation where politicians start arbitrarily saying that someone's investment is not welcome just because they have a very different political view. That's not the way our country operates," he said.
Mr Malinauskas said Tesla had a "pretty good track record" in South Australia, citing its 100-megawatt "big battery" built in 2017 in the state's north.
"Just having a different political persuasion isn't enough justification to say you're not welcome," he said.
