Timing is everything – and this proposed factory/warehouse project in Adelaide for Tesla on what is currently community land comes at a very interesting time.
MAB CCT Pty Ltd is looking to acquire Chestnut Court Reserve, Tonsley in Adelaide’s south from City of Marion. The firm will build a “fit for purpose” factory/warehouse at the site to be tenanted by Tesla, which already has a presence in the Tonsley Innovation Precinct. MAB CCT Pty Ltd wants to buy the area outlined in red in the image above; with the yellow area owned by Renewal SA and the City of Marion owned reserve area in green.
The proposed Adelaide facility will repurpose Tesla batteries and include a servicing area and showroom for the company’s electric vehicles. Whether the battery repurposing activities will include Powerwall units when they eventually reach the end of their service life or just EV batteries isn’t clear, nor is what batteries will be repurposed into.
Revenue, Jobs And Training
Council is pretty keen on the idea.
“The proposal presents significant economic benefits with an estimated 100 jobs set to be created, and financial benefit for Council, with the proceeds of the potential sale to be allocated to Council’s Asset Sustainability Reserve Fund,” the organisation says. “In addition, the proposal will generate continuous revenue from rates.”
Those 100 full-time equivalent jobs are noted as:
- 20 laboratory research and technical staff.
- 10 warehouse and workshop staff.
- 20 servicing, testing and battery repair staff.
- 20 executive business development staff.
- 10 Information Technology, sales and marketing staff (assumed 10 of each to make up the 100).
Training initiatives at the site will include in-house Tesla employee programs, integration with SA Government Trainee initiatives and apprenticeships through TAFE, Skills SA and the new Tonsley Technical College; along with targeted training opportunities for local employees.
Community Land, But Contaminated
Before the screams of “hands off community land!” go up, the 2,664 square metre plot Council owns is unfit for housing or recreation. Chestnut Court Reserve has not been accessible to the public since 2016 due to contamination issues from past manufacturing activities. MAB CCT Pty Ltd would be responsible for all remediation costs and requirements to bring the site up to scratch.
A total of 58 trees will potentially be removed across the development site subject to a further development application, among which are 2 significant trees and 28 regulated trees.
“The majority of tree species proposed for removal are Eucalyptus sideroxylon (Ironbark) which are native to Western Australia, providing limited biodiversity and habitat.”
Council estimates 62 trees will be required to be planted to offset those ripped out.
Have Your Say
City of Marion has kicked off a consultation on the proposal, feedback from which will assist it in making a decision. This consultation finishes up on Thursday 17 April and a community feedback report is to be considered at the General Council meeting on Tuesday 27 May 2025.
Will The Elon Factor Come Into Play?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a polarising character at the best of times. That’s become even more pronounced with his involvement in politics primarily in the USA and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) activities that have triggered a bunch of legitimate protests. Unfortunately, destructive activity targeting Tesla assets and vehicles that simply can’t be justified has also occurred.
At times it seems Mr. Musk would relish using the chainsaw he was recently gifted just about everywhere else too; accompanied by his rather unique yell.
It remains to be seen if people’s opinions of Elon Musk will influence their views about this proposed project. But it appears it could be a good utilisation for otherwise not particularly useful degraded suburban land, and will no doubt help Make Adelaide Great Again.
About Michael Bloch
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For some reason, I could not provide input on the Tesla consultation. I voted YES so please inform Marion Council
New technology and progress can only but benefit Australian innovation and additional jobs are always benefiting the community. However, batteries atm are a huge environmental concern to me. If this goes ahead, innovation on disposing the batteries or becoming more environmentally friendly needs to be part of the expansion and technology development.
Sorry, I’m a big NO. Anything Musk touches is not going to benefit anyone but Musk. He will bleed the place dry, not pay any income tax and shut it down when his swaztika sales plummet even more.
Play the long game Marion Council, there is much discontent as to what Musk is up to in the US, there is a strong groundswell of people all over the world who are anti Musk, and this will only grow as time goes on. Swaztika sales have dropped all over the world, his own company is asking for his resignation in an effort to revive sales.
This is a lose lose situation.
The SA government launched it’s Urban Greening Strategy for metropolitan Adelaide, with the Green Adelaide Chair, Prof Chris Daniels highlighting the urgency of this strategy, given metropolitan Adelaide tree canopy is currently only 17%, well short of the 30% target. The City of Marion currently has an average of 15% canopy cover, half the widely accepted target to achieve optimum health, liveability and economic benefits. Urban temperatures are predicted to increase and retaining trees will help this.
Our urban canopy cover is under serious threat and the practice of selling off community land and removing our significant and regulated trees, which are extremely important and valuable green infrastructure is unjustified. Whilst this continues, the Council’s tree canopy target and Green Adelaide target will not be met. Put simply, planting more trees is not enough – we need to retain our existing trees