Arylene Westlake-Jennings: Money can’t buy common decency

I received hate mail in response to my column in The Sunday Times for saying it was saddening to see a handful of mature trees being cleared for development in Mt Lawley.

“One person said we should consider that power poles and homes require timber to be built and that crying over trees being chopped down was self-indulgent.”

I reckon this particular reader has conflated the necessity of the timber industry with the decimation of our urban tree canopy, but I will leave this at that.

But, without sounding like a greenie, I was fairly appalled by the behaviour of a family camping next to mine in State forest over the weekend.

The Department of Parks & Wildlife campgrounds we were at are well tended to and signpost plenty of information reminding users to look after the sites to ensure long-term enjoyment for everyone.

In particular, the long-drop toilets have a few charming posters in there to keep your eyes diverted from the curious arachnids and other friendly things crawling around you.

One such sign though is unmistakeable in requesting campers not take firewood from the surrounding forests, the reason being the sticks, branches and other plant detritus form important habitat for the native fauna.

So when I spotted the neighbouring family blatantly dragging fallen trees to their campsite and hacking them down for firewood, it enraged me.

But what really got my goat was when this particular camper, who clearly fancied himself as a bit of a lumberjack, decided it would be a laugh to practice his axe-throwing skills on the towering jarrah and wandoo specimens.

Entitled much? Bags of firewood generally go for $25 at a servo or this regional town’s general store. And axe throwing starts from $40 per hour in Northbridge.

If you’re driving a Land Rover Defender and an Audi TT camping, you can afford all that. Clearly money can’t buy common decency.