A new dedicated taskforce will be formed to crack down on fly-tipping across Perth and Kinross.
The move was made possible after £90,000 of funding was approved at the council’s budget meeting on Wednesday.
The anti-social fly-tipping team will operate as part of the council’s visitor management team, which was established to address the concerns of the county’s rural residents.
The size of the team and roles they will undertake is yet to be disclosed.
The Carse of Gowrie has been blighted by the issue of material dumping recently, especially at this time last year when a small boat was left on a farm track in Errol to the dismay of locals.
Regular calls have been made by local councillors and an MSP to boost measures that will crack down on those responsible.
One such successful measure has been the deployment of a mobile CCTV camera in rural locations where fly-tippers are known to dump their rubbish.
People caught fly-tipping can face anything from a £200 fixed-penalty notice to a fine of £40,000 if prosecuted.
But more safeguards are still being sought, with SNP Carse of Gowrie ward councillor Ken Harvey stating he is “very pleased” to see the formation of a new dedicated team.
He added: “This team will operate as part of the visitor management team and will help to protect our beautiful county.
“Fly-tipping is particularly major issue within the Carse.
“I strongly welcome this new provision and shows that this SNP administration is prepared to deliver on issues of concern in my ward and the wider county.”
In January, Conservative Carse of Gowrie councillor Angus Forbes urged residents to ensure they use accredited waste carriers to remove their rubbish amid fears fraudsters would cut costs and just dump it.
He has been vocal for many years in tackling fly-tipping and was at the forefront of the mobile CCTV camera measures.
Following the announcement he said: “I was pleased to see the administration take on board our idea for some additional funding to tackle fly-tipping.
“This is an issue I have worked very hard on for a long number of years, for example by allocating funding for mobile fly-tipping cameras which have proved very successful at the food and drink park and other areas.
“Our proposal was to allocate money to help private land owners to have waste removed from their land. Often rubbish is dumped on private land but is very close to, and visible from, public land and the public don’t really care who owns the land, they just want it collected.
“In addition to that we had proposed one member of staff to investigate fly-tipping, find evidence, issue fixed-penalty notices and if necessary start the prosecution process.
“The SNPs budget has allocated money for a team of staff to solve fly-tipping but its very short of detail, we don’t yet know how many will be in the team and what their remit will be.
“However, Cllr Harvey was specific about the Carse of Gowrie ward so I am reassured that the focus will be down here. The Carse has a main road running through the middle with cities at each end, a perfect place for fly-tippers to dump their rubbish.
“I look forward to learning more about the detail of what the team will do and working proactively with them to solve this major problem as soon as possible.”
A Member’s Bill on fly-tipping is also being brought forward to Holyrood by Tory Mid Scotland and Fife Murdo Fraser MSP having securing cross party support.
If passed it would strengthen the law and toughen punishments for breaching it.
More than 60,000 instances of fly-tipping were recorded in Scotland last year.
