[Robert Williams]

To be fair, Essex having its own show in the afternoon has always been the plan.

radiotoday.co.uk 

It is, but it was difficult then, and still is now, to understand why Essex has been singled out as a special case.  The rather woolly justification given for this in a Select Committee hearing was along the lines of Essex being 'not quite London, not quite East Anglia' - if so, then you could probably come up with similar special cases all over the country if you really wanted to.

In makes sense where the big city stations (London/Manchester/Merseyside) are staying local, which benefits stations in neighbouring areas who would otherwise be forced to share with them, as much as the stations themselves, but Essex being virtually the only county to keep a local show when nearly everyone else has to share seems anomalous.  But then there is plenty about this whole plan that doesn't make sense.