Uncertainty is growing over the coalition government’s intentions to abolish all things regional. Last week local government minster Eric Pickles wrote to councils saying that regional spatial strategies (East of England Plan) would be abolished as soon as possible and that councils should get on and sort out the implications. He will issue guidance in due course. In the meantime, no one seems to know what to do!

The problem is working out what will fill the vacuum? Uttlesford’s current local plan is out of date and expires next year. The new, local development framework has been struggling for three years, especially over the Elsenham new town proposal. The regional plan gave strong backing Uttlesford’s fight against airport growth at Stansted and against new town blight. In future may be on our own on issues like the airport, gypsies and travellers, and new towns? Can we now expect a free-for-all as developers exploit the absence of a clear planning framework? That feels like planning anarchy? This would be a severe blow to the local community and to those who have fought against councils working together through the regional assembly.

A similar muddle has developed over economic development and business support in the East of England. I attended a meeting of the Greater Cambridge Partnership last Friday. There are fears that investment in the region will be siphoned off to other parts of the country; that green economic growth could be neglected in this region if the development agency (EEDA) is scrapped without an orderly transfer of responsibilities to local economic partnerships (councils and businesses working together). There is a poor record from councils taking economic development seriously. Urgent lobbying of people like Vince Cable and Eric Pickles is underway to prevent the imminent collapse of much that has been good about EERA and EEDA.