The Environment Minister has been urged to revisit his department’s handling of a long-running substation noise dispute – after a complaints panel ruled in favour of the resident at the centre of the case, who claimed her life had been “destroyed”.
The States of Jersey Complaints Board– which rules on grievances against ministers and their departments – today published its findings after holding a hearing into the matter at the end of July which was not attended by the Minister or his officers.
“Revisit the case”
It ruled that the complaint, made by town resident Michelle Le Cornu, was valid and recommended that the minister, Deputy Steve Luce, should “revisit the case, review all processes and procedures that informed the decision and seek external expert advice where appropriate”.
The board’s findings will now be formally presented to the States and Deputy Luce will have 12 weeks to respond in the Assembly.
The genesis of the complaint goes back to September 2021, when Ms Le Cornu first contacted the Environment Department to tell them of a disturbance causing noise and vibration at her home.
It centres around the department’s handling of a nuisance described as a ‘resonance phenomenon with amplification’ at Ms Le Cornu’s home in Drury Lane, near the bottom of Trinity Hill.
While rare, this is a recognised phenomenon caused by interference between two electromechanical transformers.
“The severity has driven me out of my home at night”
When trapped within a building, the interference causes a disturbance of resonating sound waves, which feed back amplified noise and vibration from electrical appliances in nearby households. It also causes electric shock and low frequency pressure.
Ms Le Cornu previously told Express that the interference had “completely destroyed my health and my life”, adding: “The severity has driven me out of my home at night in winter with nowhere to sleep and I can’t enjoy my home at all.”
She told the July hearing that the effects had been felt by many other people, including Environmental Health officers, and that the disturbance was variable in intensity, unpredictable, affected by atmospherics and worse in periods of cold weather when electricity consumption increased.
She alleged that the disturbance arose from interference between two nearby electrical substations operated by the JEC located at equal distances from her property and that it constituted a statutory nuisance, as defined in law.
Officer retained on case despite complaint
Neither the minister nor his officers attended the July hearing, on the basis of feedback from officers relating to their experience at a previous public hearing which had been convened to consider a separate complaint against the department.
As well as recommend that the Minister review the complaint, the board concluded that the 1999 Statutory Nuisances Law should be reviewed and that “a clear procedure for the investigation of any complaints made in accordance with the Law should be established and published”.
Ms Le Cornu also told the board that an officer she had complained about had been retained on her case, prompting it to conclude:
“Although a specific complaint had been made against a departmental officer, the individual concerned had continued to be involved in the case and the board agreed that this had been wholly inappropriate and was contrary to the generally accepted principles of natural justice.”
The board recommended that “when a complaint was made about a particular officer’s conduct, that officer should not play an active role in the case until the complaint was fully resolved, at which time some consideration should be given as to whether their renewed involvement was appropriate.”
“It is a relief”
In response to her complaint being upheld by the board, Ms Le Cornu said today: “Out of this whole ordeal, it is a relief to have a professional body listen and take the situation seriously. They were presented with overwhelming evidence and I’m very relieved that they have acted quickly to send out their conclusions.
“It was refreshing to be treated in a professional and respectful manner for the first time during this terrible ordeal.”
She added: “I just hope that this will now persuade the Environment Minister to act to protect me as this ordeal is still going on and will soon intensify when the weather gets colder and people use more electricity.”
“I will take time to review the report”
In a statement, Deputy Luce said: “I acknowledge the findings of the States of Jersey Complaints Board in relation to the recent hearing concerning Ms Le Cornu.
“I will take time to review the report in full, then respond to the States Assembly in the normal timeframes. I will then consider the implications for future policy and practice.”
