Influencer at war with neighbours over her £30,000 Pilates studio built without permission

An influencer who built a garden gym in a residential area in Norfolk despite planning permission has left neighbours fuming.

A bitter row erupted between Megan Smith, 24, and Kings Lynn residents after she set up the £30,000 Pilates studio on her grandparents’ £825,000 property.

The gym, named Luco Wellness after Megan’s dachshund Lulu and cockapoo Coco, opened its doors on November 3 – and welcomed nearly 50 people in the space of a week.

But locals have railed against the influencer’s wellness business venture, claiming that noise from the studio and traffic on the roads could disrupt church services and Remembrance parades.

Megan sold everything she owned, including her car, to pay for the Pilates machinery and make her business, which includes a cafe that sells Matcha drinks and Acai bowls, come to life.

Prices range from £23 for a single Pilates class – meanwhile a private session will set you back £40.

But the space isn’t just used for Pilates.

Megan has used the gym to host hen parties and corporate events, leaving locals furious and leading to suggestions she has undersold her business to West Norfolk Council in her planning application – the outcome of which will be decided on January 12 after she applied for retrospective permission.

She submitted a proposal to the council in September seeking a change of use to the building, which she hopes will be granted in the next week.

The application has received dozens of complaints over concerns about the levels of noise, congestion and safety risks to pedestrians – as well as an impact on their mental health.

And some became disgruntled after her business’s social media page advertised the space as being available for hen parties.

Defending her business against locals’ complaints, Megan described the criticism as ‘bizarre’.

She said: ‘I have had these people looking at my social media and stalking me on there.

‘It’s bizarre. They’re setting up accounts so they can stalk me.’

The influencer explained that she decided to the build the studio before receiving permission from the council because she ‘could not wait longer to start earning money’.

Megan said: ‘I had put everything into this, months and months of planning and I thought “Why would I let small-minded people stop me from trying to do this?”‘

She added: ‘I’ve done hen parties and had corporate days for businesses but I don’t know what idea they [neighbours] have. It’s not parties.

‘It’s yoga and Pilates. All it is is a private class. I’m not holding hen parties in the studio and they just have a coffee or a Matcha at the end.’

However some residents have spoken of their concerns about how the gym could disrupt the quiet neighbourhood and impact the town more widely.

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.’

Another woman, a resident of North Wootton who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘My thoughts are there’s very little parking and it’s always been a quiet area and I worry about the disruption and noise.

‘We have Pilates at the village hall. It’s not as if there’s a paucity of Pilates classes around her.’

However Megan dismissed opposition to her business, saying the majority of her clients were locals who ‘love it’.

There is inconsistency between how Megan is operating the business and what she had asked for in her planning application.

But the influencer said once the planning issues are agreed, she will follow them.

Megan runs the gym four days a week with two-hour long classes, including on Sundays from 7am.

Previously she advertised 6am sessions but said she wasn’t getting bookings.

Each class has capacity for five people.

However Megan has asked to run two classes from 8am and 7pm four days a week, and to be closed on Wednesdays and Sundays, on the application.

Promotional videos for the business featured Megan sitting in a sauna, a feature of the gym which is shown on its website alongside a pool and ice bath – but she made clear these were for residential use only and are not part of the business.

Residents raised concerns about these too.

One said: ‘On social media it looks like a wellness thing, which to me is a spa resort.

‘The planning permission is for a very small scale Pilates studio.’

But Megan explained that plans to include the sauna, pool and ice bath as part of the business were dropped after complaints.

She said: ‘Originally, when all the videos were done, that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted it to be a wellness retreat and whole experience.

‘Due to all the issues and all the complaints I thought “I can’t be bothered with all this”. All the videos were done and I spent a lot of money.’

And defending her Sunday opening hours, Megan said: ‘The Sunday is so busy. This is a luxury for people who work and they want to be able to come at weekends.’

Borough Councillor Richard Coates said: ‘Opposite this location is the green which has the local war memorial and if they open on a Sunday, I can see a Remembrance Sunday service there and I can see a little difficulty with people turning up for a Pilates class and Remembrance Sunday happening at the same time.

‘Just along the road there’s the parish church which was built before cars were invented and you see people parking on the road. There might be a problem with opening on a Sunday.

‘Sunday opening for the Pilates classes, I don’t think is right. It’s a day that normally is a quieter day.’

Megan’s grandparents, Bernie, 71, and Georgina, 69, have defended the business operating from their property, with Bernie dismissing complaints as ‘nonsense’.

He said: ‘Some people who live quite close to us have shocked us. They were saying “They’re going to make too much noise, there’s going to be too much traffic and it’s not going to be good for the community” which is nonsense.

‘We paid £1,000 for a sound test in the building and it came back with a completely clean bill of health. Reformer Pilates is silent and gentle.’

Several locals have instructed a planning firm to write to the council asking for Megan’s application to be rejected as it supposedly doesn’t comply with planning rules for the area.

The letter reads in part: ‘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 a predominantly residential area.

‘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.’

But not all residents are opposed to Megan’s studio, with some supporting the business.

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.’

And despite Mrs Engledow’s concerns, she said her husband might benefit from the business.

‘My husband Ron is 84. He might be interested [in reformer Pilates]. He’s got a bad knee,’ the 79-year-old said.

Planning consultants on Megan’s behalf have said loud music won’t be played from the studio and that the property’s driveway has ‘historically accommodated up to 12 vehicles for domestic gatherings’.

They have also set up plans for a ‘one way in-out’ system which will allow five vehicles to park on the property in an ‘unobstructed arrangement’.

A planning officer’s report on the business said: ‘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.’

A decision on the planning application will be made by West Norfolk Council on January 12.

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