St Michael’s Dirt BMX and mountain bike track is situated in Coombes Wood at Smugglers Lane, opposite Merrifield, in Colehill, Wimborne. 

Since the 1980's local people have enjoyed riding their bikes in this small woodland area. Two generations of local enthusiasts have served as caretakers for the tracks and jumps in the woods. Now, the third generation of bike riders are just coming through, and are ready to start enjoying using the site.

This valuable resource has been seriously damaged. Two decades of hard work, including hundreds of hours of labour have been destroyed, with out any prior consultation from the Colehill Parish Council. Up until August 2021, the council had been providing limited updates, voicing their concerns about the future of the site. These concerns where met with a proactive and measured response from the users of the site, who acted swiftly to carry out the actions requested by the Council Committee to temporarily close the site, so a process of consultation on the future use of the site could be carried out.

At this time (August 2021) the Council appointed a working group for Coombes Wood, the site where St. Michael’s Dirt is situated. This can be seen in the parish council records. This working group is mentioned in meeting minutes, with an aim to address the use of St Michael’s Dirt BMX and mountain bike track. However, there are no documents outlining the objectives of this group, nor have they made any effort to meet with the users of the site, despite written requests for a meeting to take place, at a mutually agreeable time and following the Councils protocols.

The destruction and closure of St Michael’s Dirt BMX and mountain bike track, was carried out with no prior warning, or any communication with the user group of the site. This site is unique in the local area, and holds lengthy historical significance. Closure of this site will likely lead to bike trails being built elsewhere in the local area, on sites which are not suitable and cause other resources in the local area to be overloaded, especially with the popularity of cycling in general the last 2 years, and cause unforeseen issues elsewhere.

The users of St Michael’s Dirt BMX and mountain bike track would like to be given the opportunity to openly discuss the future of the site with Colehill Parish Council. This opportunity has not been offered so far. The Committee have acted without any opportunity for communication or democratic process, for the local community.