Regular readers of my column will be unsurprised to hear that I wasn't exactly struck down with grief at the news that the government had taken the decision to withdraw Suffolk's devolution deal.

This was a thoroughly bad deal drawn up by a failed government in the dying months of its administration in a pathetic attempt to shore up its own party in two East Anglian counties.

It was cravenly grasped like a leaky lifebelt by Tory councillors in both Suffolk and Norfolk who thought it might be the only way of retaining their power in the next local elections.

Don't get me wrong. I want to see more power devolved from Whitehall to local people but this was the worst possible option.

A tiny amount of money (£16m a year on top of a budget of £750m) was being offered in return for surrendering any pretence of democracy and establishing an elected dictatorship in Endeavour House. The whole project stank to high heaven!

What is needed is a new structure, probably covering Suffolk and Norfolk, with a directly-elected mayor entirely separate from the county councils.

Yes, it should work closely with the county councils to bring projects to fruition - but the idea of having directly-elected council leaders was always a recipe for disaster.

What would happen if, say, in Suffolk at the next county council elections we ended up with 25 Tory councillors, 15 Labour councillors, 15 Green Councillors, 10 Lib Dems, and 10 Independents?

Alongside that election there would have been first past the post election for a council leader.

You'd end up with Tory council leader responsible for choosing the cabinet, but the combined opposition members would be able to vote down any proposals at every council meeting.

What a recipe for total mayhem!

A much better solution would be a real devolution settlement for Suffolk and Norfolk covering both counties which actually have so much in common.

If there was a single authority looking at the A140 we might have a better road from Ipswich to Norwich.

It might not have taken so long to get work started on the Long Stratton by-pass and there might be a serious look at the problems facing drivers in the Stonhams.

Last weekend we had a short break in North Norfolk, and it's clear there's much Suffolk could learn from what happens there.

At 6pm on the Sunday we were walking through Cromer town centre. We were passed by two buses - one heading to Wells, about 20 miles away, and one heading to Norwich. 

Neither were full to bursting, but both had several passengers on them. When was the last time you saw a rural bus in Suffolk on a Sunday evening?

Maybe a cross-border devolved authority looking at public transport could help with something like that here.

It's not perfect - there are so many speed limit changes on Norfolk's rural roads I suspected the county council was part of some job creation scheme for road sign manufacturers!

But as a frequent visitor to Norfolk, I have to say there is far more that unites the two main East Anglian counties than divides them and a regional mayor for both seems like a far better idea than the half-baked plan that had been on the table.

Having said that, despite all the fine words from the new government I don't expect any new devolution plans to come forward anytime soon.

Devolution tends to come up as an idea when a government is looking for something to talk about as an election looms - for the next few years I suspect its local government focus will be on the social care crisis and the threat that more local authorities will be facing financial ruin!

And I must just add that we took the scenic route to Cromer from Ipswich through Lowestoft and Yarmouth - using the Gull Wing Bridge for the first time. It looks great and should make a huge difference to traffic in the town.

The opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of Paul Geater and do not necessarily reflect views held by this newspaper, its sister publications or its owner and publisher Newsquest Media Group Ltd.