Locals in a quiet rural suburb are locked in a planning battle with a pilates instructor who built a wellness centre in her grandparents’ back garden.
Megan Smith, 24, has enraged neighbours by transforming an outhouse behind her grandad’s £825,000 Norfolk home into a pilates studio – fit with an onsite cafe, ice baths and sauna.
She spent three years training in wellness centres across Dubai before venturing back home to Norfolk to share her knowledge, with her website describing her as having ‘a unique teaching style that blends technical precision with a luxury, client-focused approach’.
Renovation works on the property in Kings Lynn got underway earlier this year and the studio officially opened its doors on November 3, welcoming 46 people in the space of one week.
The gym, named Luco Wellness, now hosts up to six classes a day, between 6am and 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 12pm on weekends, with prices ranging from £23 for a single class to £40 per person for a private session.
The business, which lists Megan and grandfather Bernard as directors, also boasts an onsite cafe, named Luco Nourish, which serves a range of organic treats from Matcha lattes to Acai bowls ‘that support both the body and mind’.
However, planning permission for the studio is yet to be granted, with a retrospective application seeking a change of use to the building still waiting to be approved.
The proposal was submitted to the council in September and has already attracted dozens of complaints from disgruntled locals over the levels of noise, cars clogging up the roads and safety risks to pedestrians.
Some neighbours also fear that if the planning application is allowed to go ahead the business would have an adverse impact on their mental health and could shatter the peace of a once quiet community.
A number of residents have already instructed a local planning firm to write to the council, calling for the application to be rejected as it supposedly fails to comply with local planning rules.
The letter claimed the business would be a ‘detriment’ to nearby residents and the character of the local area, will generate too much noise and provides ‘inadequate on-site parking provision’ for people attending classes.
‘Whilst the studio building itself may not result in noise disturbance (if windows and doors are kept closed while in use), customers accessing and maneuvering vehicles within the site, consuming food and drink and gathering in groups, are all of a scale and intensity inappropriate within predominantly residential area,’ the letter reads.
‘The potential for significant noise and disturbance to existing local residents based on this level of activity is significant and extremely likely to detract from the quiet enjoyment of adjoining residents’ properties.
‘The nature, scale and intensity of business use as proposed is considered wholly inappropriate within a residential area on the basis of the most recent information provided.’
It adds that the size of the business is ‘incompatible with the peaceful enjoyment of residents’ properties’ and should therefore be located somewhere that is ‘more appropriate to commercial operations of this nature and scale’.
The letter concludes: ‘It is considered that the significant business use proposed is unacceptable based on its detrimental effect on the amenities of existing local residents, would not be in keeping with the residential character of the area, and would generate significant vehicular traffic and activity that cannot be accommodated within the site, to the detriment of highway safety.’
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Elsewhere, the application has also attracted dozens of individual comments from neighbours seemingly concerned over the disruption the pilates studio could bring.
One disgruntled resident who lives opposite the house voiced concerns over the amount of noise coming from classes and cars as people arrive.
They wrote: ‘The opening hours of 6am to 8pm seem to be very long for only 2 planned classes per day of one hour’s duration and if people are attending Pilates classes during this time period we will be subject to sustained periods of additional noise with respect to cars and people coming and going.’
The neighbour added: ‘Our property lies directly opposite and we have only recently moved into this property. We would not have anticipated having a business operating there and are concerned that the quiet area we had moved into is going to be disrupted by this business.’
Another local resident added: ‘It is suggested that this planning application if successful will lead to improvements in participants physical and mental health.
‘If this proves to be the case it will be at a cost to the local residents mental health. The very local community will not be able to live in symbiosis with this type of project in my medical opinion.’
But some locals disagree and believe Megan should be able to keep her business running as it provides a positive benefit to the local community.
Neighbour Vince Williamson, 62, said: ‘I’m fine with it. Maybe my wife will go to it. I was brought up around here and it’s a good thing for the area.’
Neighbour Betty Engledow, 79, said of reformer Pilates and Matcha: ‘I’ve never heard of such a thing.
‘I’ve got friends who are into Pilates. They do a lot in North Wootton village hall and have dance classes and yoga there. I play golf and that’s my hobby.
‘My husband, Ron is 84. He might be interested [in reformer Pilates]. He’s got a bad knee.’
The application states that a maximum of 25 classes – each lasting up to an hour – would be held a week, attended by five people at a time.
Classes are available to book from the company’s website, which describes the studio ‘as a sanctuary where precision meets elegance, giving you the tools to improve posture, build resilience, and move with confidence’.
It also features an online store selling an assortment of Luco branded products including a £15 bath sheet, £10 tote bag and even grip socks for £12.
Describing Megan’s experience, the website adds: ‘Our lead instructor brings a wealth of international experience, including three years teaching and training in Dubai’s most exclusive wellness studios.
‘This background has shaped a unique teaching style that blends technical precision with a luxury, client-focused approach.’
Planning consultants acting on behalf of Megan have insisted that no loud music will be played from the studio, and any that is played ‘will be of very low level or not at all’.
They added that the property’s driveway ‘has historically accommodated up to 12 vehicles for domestic gatherings’, although they have set out plans for a ‘one way “in-out” system that provides an unobstructed arrangement for five parking guests’.
A planning officer’s report also supported the development: ‘The proposed change of use represents a modest, well-managed form of development that utilises an existing building, generates minimal traffic, and gives rise to no unacceptable noise or amenity impacts.
‘The development delivers meaningful health, wellbeing, and social benefits and is fully consistent with national, local, and neighbourhood planning policy.’
West Norfolk Council will decide the application during a planning committee meeting on January 12.
