A town resident who attributes her terminal illness to the stress and “intolerable suffering” caused by two electricity sub-stations close to her home presented her concerns about the government’s handling of her case at a public hearing this morning.
But neither Environment Minister Deputy Steve Luce nor his officers were in attendance, having expressed concerns yesterday that the hearing exploring Michelle Le Cornu’s complaint may not be conducted fairly.
Presenting her case today, Ms Le Cornu, who lives in a cottage on Drury Lane near the bottom of Trinity Hill, said that the disruption is preventing her from enjoying her home of over 50 years.
The artist and teacher believes that her initial complaint to Environmental Health in 2021 and her subsequent dealings with the department have not been properly dealt with.
She made a formal complaint over the alleged “unreasonable failure” by Environment Minister Steve Luce to issue an abatement notice to the JEC to stop the noise and vibrations emanating from the substations, which Mrs Le Cornu argues has ruined her life.
Although the Le Capelain Room in the States Building is not the largest, it was packed with people supporting Mrs Le Cornu on Thursday.
She made her case to the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, which investigates complaints from members of the public regarding ministerial decisions or ‘maladministration’ by Government departments.
However, neither the Environment Minister nor any of his officers were present, with Deputy Luce stating beforehand that no one from his department would attend, citing “concerns regarding the way in which the panel was conducted” at a previous hearing.
“I am not prepared to put my officers in a position where they could be subject to personal attack,” he said.
He said his team had already supplied the Complaints Board with the evidence required to consider the case, and noted an ongoing concern that the panel “continues to overstep the boundaries of its remit”.
During this morning’s hearing, an at times emotional Mrs Le Cornu told the panel that she had funded her own investigation which had proved that interference between the two electrical substations was “indisputably the source” of the “amplified resonance” which caused noise, rattled pipes and furniture, and increased the pressure within her home.
So unbearable was the disturbance that she would often have to sleep in her van, she said, adding that she had now become sensitised to the low-frequency interference.
Friends giving testimony at the hearing said that Mrs Le Cornu had gone through “living hell” and praised her “courage” and” patience” in the face of “ducking and diving, gaslighting and backpedaling.”
The Environment Minister and his department have said that, in this case, legal nuisance thresholds have not been met to take formal action, based on the evidence gathered.
The panel does not have the power to order the minister to act but it can make recommendations should it find the department has not followed the rules and standards by which it must abide.