TRIBUTES have been paid to an art teacher whose battle against cancer in recent months coincided with the escalation of a long-running dispute with the Environment Department.
Michelle Le Cornu, who died on 15 January, had received a stage four cancer diagnosis six months earlier, leaving her unable to carry on teaching the art classes she had run for around two decades.
In 2021 the St Helier resident became embroiled in a row with government.
Noise and vibrations from two electrical substations close to Mrs Le Cornu’s home near the southern end of Trinity Hill sparked correspondence with Jersey Electricity, which then led to a formal complaint to Environment Minister Steve Luce over the failure to issue an abatement notice.
The matter came to a head at a hearing convened by the Jersey Complaints Board in July, after which she told the JEP that the oncologist delivering her terminal diagnosis had cited “the excessive and extreme stress of this ordeal over a prolonged period” as a contributing factor in her deteriorating health.
After the complaints board found in favour of Mrs Le Cornu, Deputy Luce apologised for the suffering she had experienced and admitted that his department could have handled the case better.
Fellow art teacher Laura Hudson, who took over Mrs Le Cornu’s class in recent months following her diagnosis, said the lessons had been consistently popular with students over many years.
“Michelle was an amazing teacher – her classes were always full and she was very well known,” Ms Hudson said. “She was a mentor to me as well as to lots of other people who she worked with, and it’s a great loss to the Jersey art community.
“It was very important to Michelle that the classes should carry on, and we had some lovely conversations about that.”
Ms Hudson said she hoped that some of the late teacher’s work would be exhibited in the coming months.
Mrs Le Cornu also worked with Islanders with mental impairments, and ahead of her funeral this Thursday, donations have been invited for the “Take Part Making Art” programme organised by Jersey Mencap.
