Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to help mitigate the impact of new onshore renewable energy projects on local communities.

The Government recognises that renewable energy projects can have local impacts. There are established routes in the planning system that require local impacts to be measured and controlled (such as through Environmental Impact Assessments), that enable communities to raise concerns about renewable energy developments in their area, and that ensure the adverse impacts of these developments are addressed satisfactorily prior to consent being granted.