Webinar attendees were particularly worried about losing green space in the district, but the council said that "any open spaces and reserves that council administers and / or owns are likely to be retained for public use".
The Government's legislation applies to all councils in the greater urban areas of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua Lakes.
To comply with the Government's legislation, Waipā District Council's District Plan needs to change significantly.
Waipā's proposed Plan Change 26 includes allowing landowners to build up to three houses with up to three storeys without resource consent and allowing for more dwellings on sections than have been allowed before.
This means the council will have less control over issues like sunlight, setbacks, privacy and views.
There are also fears the changes will lead to developers buying adjoining sections, removing houses then redeveloping multiple sections.
The Government's legislation enables councils to modify the medium density residential standards in only a few cases, such as heritage buildings or sites of significance to mana whenua.
Group manager district growth and regulatory services Wayne Allan said previously that lumping Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Kihikihi in with huge cities was "simply nonsensical".
"These are big changes for our district which are not supported by council."
The council says Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Kihikihi don't have the capacity in the infrastructure (pipes, stormwater etc) to support this kind of housing intensification.
"We need about 212 more houses in Cambridge every year to ensure new people moving to the town have a home. Te Awamutu and Kihikihi combined would need an additional 100 houses every year."
"There is also a shortage of rental and affordable accommodation," the council says.
Waipā's elected councillors made a direct plea to the Government to drop the one-size-fits-all approach, but the pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
People can give feedback online.
