16 Mar 2026
Council bosses have been left redfaced after dozens of copies of their own newsletter were found flytipped just outside the district.
Numerous editions of SADC’s Community News were found by litter pickers on the Kimpton Road over the weekend.
Local councillor Ralph Muncer said: “Brilliant to join over 50 people at the weekend in Kimpton for the annual village litter pick and my thanks goes to everyone who helped organise and took part in cleaning up our community.
“It was a particular shame to see so many instances of fly-tipping, including numerous copies of the St Albans City and District Council Community News which have been dumped in a ditch on the Kimpton Road.
“I’ve written to the Chief Executive of SADC to request this fly-tipping is removed and I’m working with my colleague, Cllr. Matt Cowley who serves as the Leader of the Conservatives at SADC to find out how council publications end up being fly-tipped between Kimpton and Codiote.”
Tory leader Cllr Cowley said: “Fly-tipping blights our communities and our countryside. For too long, this Lib Dem administration have failed to get it under control – with statistics published last year showing that just 11 fly-tippers have been prosecuted in the seven years they have run the council.
“Now, we find that the council itself is fly-tipping – with magazines paid for by taxpayers dumped at the side of the road in Kimpton.
“Our Conservative team believe that we need a new approach to tidy up our district. That’s why we want to see greater investment in tackling fly-tipping and cleaning our streets.
“We’ll keep fighting for that – and we’ll be asking some urgent questions about how the council came to be involved in fly-tipping itself.”
In response to the fly-tipping, SADC strategic director for community and place delivery Chris Traill said: “We are appalled by this fly-tip in the North Herts District Council area and will support any action they take against the offender such as a Fixed Penalty Notice fine.
“Distribution of around 62,500 copies of the winter edition of Community News was the responsibility of a leafleting company which we had a contract with. We have used them for many years and found them to be reliable.
“It appears the fly-tip consists of a box of around 100 copies and may have been dumped there in late October, early November when the newsletter was being delivered door-to-door to residents.
“The distribution firm’s operations director has told us he is ‘furious and shocked’ by what has happened and has launched an investigation.
“One issue that is being looked into is whether this could be the same box that was reported stolen by an operative in early November while he was on a delivery round in St Albans.
“Our waste and recycling contractor was instructed to clear up the litter and secure any evidence that could help identify the offender.
“We will ask the distribution company to pay for the clear-up costs.
“As a council, we are responsible for dealing with fly-tips in our area and have campaigned to remind residents, businesses and other organisations about their responsibilities. Over the past year, we have prosecuted eight of the most serious fly-tippers in court and issued numerous fines for the offence
“It is therefore infuriating to discover a council publication has been fly-tipped in this way and we will be letting our distributor know that we feel they have let us down.”
