A news report with unsympathetic asides on Ms Lewis’s Judicial Review yesterday has succeeded in galvanising her supporters in and beyond the community. Donations poured into her appeal all day reaching nearly a thousand pounds by evening with many donors choosing to remain anonymous.
This surge of renewed, popular determination to contest the outcome also partly responds to information from Ms Lewis’s legal adviser that essential documents pertaining to the case had not been made available to the judge. This was blamed on an administrative error. The High Court must now arrange a court hearing before a judge in order to determine whether the case should go ahead to a full judicial review. In addition, donors and well-wishers revealed their anger with Welsh Government and Velindre bosses for seeking such high costs against a Velindre cancer patient relying on Working Tax Credit.
A statement from Ms Lewis’s Legal adviser reaffirms that it is widely accepted,
including by the Welsh Government, that the best option for a new cancer centre is to co-locate with the University Hospital Wales. It claims Welsh Government plans have failed to properly consider this option and engage with the medical community both within and outside of Velindre. The plans, it says, only seek to meet a short term need and fail to address the long term needs of cancer treatment, which will trap Wales into an outdated cancer care model.
The case is also unusual because in addition to a medical case, Ms Lewis is making novel legal arguments under Welsh law. First she is arguing that the needs of future generations as required by the sustainability principle in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Secondly, her legal team has found that The Welsh Government has a non-deferrable duty to seek to “maintain and enhance” certain listed living organisms and habitats under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.
The coming weeks will be crucial in deciding the course of events. The strength of
feeling shared by many within and beyond the local community and those directly
involved with the ongoing development plans continues to grow rather than diminish.
The outcome of the next stage of the legal process is eagerly awaited.
Co-locate Velindre
If you want to support Cat Lewis’s Judicial Review, here’s the link to her donation page.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stnm
