Article – Jonathan Leask – Local Democracy ReporterThe Government is pushing councils to ease the current consenting burden until the RMA replacement is made law. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop sent a letter to Environment Canterbury and other regional councils requesting they use sensible …The Government is pushing councils to ease the current consenting burden until the RMA replacement is made law. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop sent a letter to Environment Canterbury and other regional councils requesting they use “sensible judgement” in managing consents. These include putting a pause on plan changes, changing the consent process requirements and clarifying considerations for proportional information requests. This provides an opportunity to fix localised issues.”Bishop’s letter was co-signed by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Environment Minister Penny Simmonds.