It’s the brainchild of two of freeride mountain biking’s most respected figures, hosted one of the sport’s most popular events, and been variously described as the “backyard of dreams”, a “dirt masterpiece” and a “Garden of Eden”.
But a mountain bike track nestled in the Welsh countryside has been deemed illegal by planners this week after it was built without permission, with councillors criticising the track for “scarring the countryside”.
The compound, located at Maes Loonskie, Cwm Nant-y-Meichiaid, in the countryside between Llanfyllin and Meifod in central Wales, was built by Vero Sandler and Sam Hodgson.
New Zealand-born Sandler is regarded as one of the pioneers of freeride mountain biking, an exciting off-road discipline that sees riders earn points for performing gravity-defying tricks, instead of racing each other.
The jumps and ramps they built in the garden of their rural property have played host in 2024 and 2025 to a round of Backyard Battle, a series featuring some of the world’s best freeriders and sponsored by the Monster Energy drinks company.
In a video posted last month on YouTube by Ghost Bikes, Hodgson discussed how the track was built and developed over the past few years.
“It’s literally in my bones to just build stuff and ride it,” Hodgson, originally from the Isle of Wight, said. “I had the canvas but nothing to ride, so I had to build it.”
However, that building work came under scrutiny during a meeting of Powys County Council’s planning committee on Thursday, where councillors received a “part retrospective” proposal to construct the bike track, including the siting of two containers, the construction of new access, and associated works at the compound.
Sam Hodgson (Image Credit: Ghost Bikes)
After 20 objections were made against the application, senior planning officer Kate Bowen recommended that councillors refuse permission, claiming the track has had a negative impact on a group of listed buildings 150 metres away, the County Times reports.
Bowen also claimed that the compound creates an “alien topography which is at stark contrast to the existing landscape”.
During the meeting, Hodgson and Sandler were also criticised for going ahead with the construction of the track before they had received planning permission.
“I’m absolutely baffled why anybody embarking on a development of this scale would not have consulted with the local community, assessed the ecology of the area, and address access issues,” Conservative councillor Jonathan Wilkinson said.
“I first became of aware of this about two years ago when residents reported huge amounts of earth being moved on a steep side near their properties serviced by a single-track C road.”
According to the documents submitted as part of the planning process, the bike track was listed as being for private use only, something criticised by the councillors who noted the “significant” traffic using the site and its hosting of the Backyard Battle series.
“I know lots of people would be excited by this development and biking is a growth industry,” Liberal Democrat councillor Angela Davies said.
“But I just cannot get my head around what the developers were thinking that this was okay to do this without planning permission.
“There’s a lot of videos around. The Backyard Battle event was held at this site in June 2025 with music and dancing. That was a big event – so I think it’s disingenuous to say this is for personal use.”
Satellite image of Mae Loonskie mountain bike track, Wales (Image Credit: Google)
Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru’s Elwyn Vaughan told the meeting that photographs shown to the committee revealed that the track had led to a “scarring of the countryside”.
“We need to send a message this is not acceptable,” he said, arguing that it was “not right” that developers build first and then expect the council to “bend over”.
Wilkinson also added that there are “dwellings” on site, at least one of which is “occupied”, telling the meeting: “I would have liked to see an application include those dwellings as we’re almost pretending they don’t exist.”
However, planning agent Oliver Evans told the committee that Hodgson and Sandler had a “clear willingness to make meaningful adjustments to the track layout in order to reduce visual impact and respond to concerns raised”.
He also pointed out that planning policy stressed the need to support sustainable economic development in rural areas.
Nevertheless, the members of the committee voted unanimously to refuse the application, the chairperson Gareth Jones concluding: “We want to send a clear message that we won’t stand for this.”
road.cc has contacted Sam Hodgson for comment on the decision.