A 24-year-old wellness influencer has sparked outrage among neighbours after converting an outbuilding at her grandfather’s £825,000 property into a Pilates studio.
Megan Smith established Luco Wellness in the garden of the North Wootton home, transforming the space into a comprehensive wellness facility featuring a café, sauna, hot tub and ice baths.
The venture, which welcomed its first clients on November 3, has drawn fierce criticism from locals who claim the business generates excessive noise and causes vehicles to clog nearby streets.
Neighbours have raised concerns about pedestrian safety and argue the commercial operation is fundamentally unsuitable for their residential area.
Both Megan and her grandfather Bernard are registered as company directors.
The studio operates up to six sessions daily, running from 6am until 7pm on weekdays and 9am to midday at weekends, with individual classes priced at £23 and private sessions costing £40 per person.
An accompanying café called Luco Nourish offers organic refreshments including matcha lattes and açai bowls designed to “nourish both the body and mind”.
The business also retails branded merchandise through its website, including bath sheets at £15, tote bags for £10 and grip socks priced at £12.
Megan Smith has opened the Luco Wellness centre near Kings Lynn
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Mrs Smith spent three years honing her skills at exclusive wellness facilities in Dubai before returning to Norfolk to launch her own venture.
However, the studio began operating before receiving official council approval, with a retrospective planning application submitted in September still awaiting a decision.
Disgruntled residents have enlisted a local planning consultancy to formally oppose the application, arguing it breaches planning regulations.
Their letter to the council states: “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 new centre has split opinion in North Wootton
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The correspondence further argues that while the studio itself may not create disturbance if kept sealed during sessions, customers arriving by car, socialising and consuming refreshments represent an intensity of activity wholly inappropriate for a predominantly residential setting.
Objectors contend the development offers “inadequate on-site parking provision” and would harm highway safety through increased traffic the site cannot accommodate.
Some residents fear approval would damage their mental health and destroy the peaceful character of their community.
Despite the opposition, some neighbours have voiced support for the young entrepreneur.
One local resident said “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.”
However, other residents were quick to defend the development, with some even expressing interest in having the new wellness centre.
Vince Williamson, 62, told the Daily Mail: “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.”
Also defending the development was 79-year-old Betty Engledow.
The 79-year-old said: “My husband, Ron is 84. He might be interested [in reformer Pilates]. He’s got a bad knee.”
A council planning officer’s report backed the development, concluding it represents a modest, well-managed operation generating minimal traffic with no unacceptable noise or amenity impacts.
The assessment found the site has adequate parking for the limited number of attendees at each class.
West Norfolk Council will determine the application at a planning committee meeting on January 12.