Linn Park et alia loca
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Report on RSK Geosciences, Risk Asessments, Complain to who

This paper covers three things:

  • RSK Prequalification Assessment from which one can adduce their suitability, and the validity of their report.
  • Risk Assessments,
  • Who to complain to.
  • An Engineers letter to Councillors and MSP's, and one to Paul McCabe [a Councillor]

RSK - Prequalification Assessment

RSK Prequalification Assessment

What follows is what can be found out about RSK Geosciences from the web.

Companies House Data

Their name is actually RSK Environment Limited as it states in the report. Companies house shows that their structure, etc is as follows:

  • Company Number: SC115530 - Private limited Company registered in Scotland.
  • Address: 65 Sussex Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G41 1DX
  • Company Secretary: Sally Evans, Appointed on 9 August 2019
  • There are 55 Directors.
  • There are 2 "persons with significant control", namely:
    • Ares Management Limited [a corporate body, Company No: 05837428] of 5th Floor, 6 St Andrew Street, London, England, EC4A 3AE. The "control" is Ownership of shares – 75% or more.
    • Rsk Group Limited [a Private Company Limited By Shares, Company No: 03761340] of Spring Lodge, 172 Chester Road, Helsby, Cheshire, WA6 0AR. The "control" is Ownership of voting rights - 75% or more as well as the Right to appoint and remove directors.
  • The company has had two previous names apart from it's "off the shelf" name:
    • RSK ENSR ENVIRONMENT LIMITED from 03 Apr 2003 - 22 Jan 2007
    • R.S.K. ENVIRONMENT LIMITED from 8 May 1989 - 03 Apr 2003
  • It's areas of trading [viz it's SIC Codes] are as follows:
    • 39000 - Remediation activities and other waste management services
    • 42990 - Construction of other civil engineering projects not elsewhere classified
    • 71122 - Engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities
    • 74901 - Environmental consulting activities
    • Noted that code 74206 Geophysical, geologic and seismic surveying, Geologist (consultant) is NOT included.
  •  The Shareholding [all transferred to Ares Management Ltd on 6th August 2021 from RSK Group Limited] is as follows:
    • 22,543 Ordinary Shares
    • 4,477 Ordinary A Shares
    • 382 Ordinary B Shares
  • The accounts for 1997 show a profit of some £223,000 in a business mainly associated with realising landfill.
  • By 2021, they had become an American owned investment group with a turnover of some £40 Million [down from £55 Million the previous year] showing a profit of £29 Million with 489 people [down from 547 in 2020].
  • The accounts also indicate a large number of subsidiaries NONE of which mention "Geology" in their scope of business.

So much for the data on RSK Environment Limited. So who are the other two companies which are effectively in control ?

Starting with Ares Management Limited. Companies House reports as follows:
Ares Management Corporation,

  • Address: 2000 Avenue Of The Stars, 12th Floor, Los Angeles, California, United States, 90067
  • Capitalisation £28,000,000

Enough said.

Report Conclusions

The report was produced by an organisation experienced in landfill and water, rather than a firm of Geological Consultants.

No more comment is required as the following questions remain unanswered:

  • The time scales within which another rockfall can be expected.
  • The extent of another rockfall in terms of size and damage.

Without this information, the report is in effect invalidated as not providing adequate information with which to assess the risk.

Path Closure - Risk Assessments

Risk Assessments

Glasgow City Council including the Parks Department have simply not assessed the other risks that have been created by closure of the path which include:

  • Trapping people who have inadvertently entered a partially fenced are by legitimate means and then find themselves trapped.
  • Forcing people to use an alternative route, which is known to be unsafe - viz the narrow part of Old Castle Road past the castle. This applies to people who:
    • are in a wheel chair for which the path adjacent to the narrow part of Old Castle Road past the castle is impossible to pass - considering that they may well have entered at Netherlee.
    • have a buggy and young children for which the path adjacent to the narrow part of Old Castle Road past the castle is highly unsuitable.
    • are on a bicycle, possibly hauling a small trailer for the carriage of young children or which the path adjacent to the narrow part of Old Castle Road past the castle is impossible.
    • as pedestrian visitors who naturally assume that walking down the narrow part of Old Castle Road past the castle is safe.
  • Noted that cars often pass down the narrow section of Old Castle Road past the castle at speeds well in excess of the speed limit.
  • Noted that there are many other places in Linn Park where higher safety risks exist - hung trees, poor fencing, ruins, etc etc.

One can immediately conclude that it would be much much safer for the community and visitors for the path to be re-opened immediately.

Path Closure - Who to complain to

Who to complain to:

Linn Ward Councillors [information taken from https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/]:

MSP's [https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps]

Glasgow Constituency MSP

Glasgow List MSP's [Please note: only one MSP is allowed to help you at a time]:

 

Letters to Councillors and MSP's

Email to Patrick Harvie MSP

Sent: 20 April 2023 11:19am
Subject: Walking - Access to Linn Park

Patrick

I received your leaflet a few days ago.

Glasgow City Council have acted in an extremely foolish manner in closing the access to Linn Park to the east of the Snuffmill Bridge.

The reason they closed the path was knee jerk reaction to a few small rocks [the largest 600 mm in diameter] which descended from a ledge which has quietly been eroded by water over the last century or so. In fact these ricks slid down taking a number of days to get from the ledge to the path.

This is quite common in many areas of Scotland which are open to the public.

The alternative route is fraught with difficulty for all but the young and fit. Wheel Chairs, Bicycles, Prams, etc are all required to use a path which has a transverse slope, and a number of steps.

As a Chartered Engineer who has built roads and tunnels in similar geology in East Africa, I have some experience of what I am talking about.

PLEASE SEE the Linn Park web site where we have analysed the safety situation and concluded that there is no case for closing the path. In fact it makes life much MORE DANGEROUS. Elderly tourists [ladies] walking down Old Castle Road is an event waiting to happen

The history is here:
https://tdocplus.co.uk/linnpark/information-on-the-park/path-closure/248-closure-of-the-path-below-the-castle

The council's report states that the cliff is in imminent danger of collapse. After 18 months, not a single grain has descended.

One person [an elderly man] has drowned after falling into the river attempting to climb past the obstructive blockade erected at not inconsiderable and totally unnecessary expense.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/body-found-glasgow-amid-search-26358752

It is time that someone applied a bit of common sense. As the weather improves, the number of people using an unsatisfactory route is high. This is evidenced by the number of people signing the petition.

It is utterly pathetic that neither local councillors nor the head of CRAP [Cleansing Roads and Parks] has had the decency to reply to our communications except in the most negative of terms.

I would suggest that you visit the site, and I can explain in what should happen, and that no works are required except to remove the unsightly fences etc, which are best described as a disgrace.

Richard

PS on Monday last a small section of the wall along Old Castle Road opposite the Castle entrance was struck by a lorry and two large blocks of stone knocked out of it - leaving a dangerous situation. The council removed one such block, and left the other. The stability of the wall remains in doubt - another block falling out could easily cause a head on collision between two vehicles - many of which ignore he 20 mph limit.
--
Eur Ing Richard Townsend-Rose MA CEng MICE
Phone: 0141 237 8293
Mobile: 07770 460862

LinnPark.org.uk