CAMERAS are being installed in Bolton Council’s town hall chamber — at a cost of £100,000.

They will stream meetings of the full council, planning committee and cabinet live on the council’s website.

The cameras, which will be operational later this year, will cost £8,000 a year to operate.

Bolton’s Liberal Democrat leader Roger Hayes has previously welcomed the idea of cameras and proposed a motion in a council meeting which asked that “the press and public should be allowed access to all meetings where non-confidential formal decisions are taken”. He also said he hopes it brings “transparency” in council debates.

Cllr Hayes added: “I hope it will make councillors more mindful.

“We have had councillors very often saying things in council and then saying afterwards that they didn’t say that. This way that will not be possible.

“I did strike me that £100,000 is quite a lot of money but I know that they have to be compatible with the equipment already installed, which is of a high specification. And, you could argue, what is the price of democracy?”

The cost of the cameras is coming from part of the Albert Hall refurbishment budget which is an ongoing project expected to cost £6.5m.

However, Cllr Nick Peel said the cost of the cameras could have been spent elsewhere.

He added: “It is understandable that people have said it is a complete waste of money. It would not have been a priority for the council to spend money on this when we are still trying to deal with massive cuts and there are far greater things we could be doing with this capital. But we are where we are and this is something we have to do.

“One plus would be the live streaming of the planning committee because that does interest people when they have applications in. It will show people how applications are debated rather than this assumption that they are just nodded through.”

The introduction of live streaming followed government regulations set down by former communities secretary Eric Pickles, to allow members of the public to film, photograph or make sound recordings of proceedings at public council meetings. A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We are installing cameras in the council chamber, to allow wider access to council meetings and improve transparency of decision making.

“All other Greater Manchester councils already live stream meetings and Bolton needs this facility too. The cameras are currently being installed and will be operational later in the year. Members of the public will be able to watch full council, planning and other meetings live from their computers or mobile devices.”