Wind Turbines

I have spoken to the Minister about my concerns. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on introducing this debate. The issue is extremely important to people throughout Norfolk and, I dare say, the country as a whole. It needs to be addressed with great sensitivity to local communities. Many of my constituents feel that they get a raw deal from the Government's green agenda simply because they live in rural areas. More often than not, large-scale onshore wind turbines are built in rural areas. There are 10 in South-West Norfolk, and proposals for at least 27 more are in the pipeline, which would affect my constituents considerably. It is not surprising that local people are anxious that a precedent has been set and that western Norfolk could be forced to take more than its fair share. People there put up with the noise, shadow flickers and other visual impacts of wind turbines, but they do not benefit from lower energy bills, as my hon. Friend articulated. Mains gas is not universally supplied in the area, and people who pay massively more for using oil and electricity believe that they are being penalised. Does the Minister agree that the Government need to make the benefits of renewable energy alternatives such as wind turbines more tangible directly to those who are forced to live with their effects, particularly because huge Government subsidies already make them very profitable? Currently, there is little or no local benefit of having wind turbines virtually in one's back garden, as in Norfolk. Will the Minister address that issue?