Final Version Proposed Quarry at Haddiscoe, Norfolk Environmental Impact Statement (Company Profile) 3.0 PLANNING BACKGROUND 3.1 Company Profile 3.1.1 Earsham Gravels was established in 1947 by Mr Bryan Bennett the father of the current owner and Managing Director Mr Jimmy Bennett. 3.1.2 The family first started in business by taking over a Sand and Gravel Quarry in the Waveney Valley at Earsham which had opened some time during the Second World War to supply various construction projects taking place at the time to support the war effort. The surrounding land and the mineral working were purchased by Mr Bennett shortly after the war had ended and extraction has continued at Earsham since that time. 3.1.3 Earsham Gravels became a limited Company in 1952 and continued to work land adjoining the original working area but this time in the ownership of the Earsham Estate. 3.1.4 Since that time the Company has continued to grow and now has a workforce of sixteen including two third generation members of the Bennett family. 3.1.5 Whilst the Company has retained the name of the parish where working first commenced, it has undertaken projects elsewhere in the County of Norfolk. In the 1980’s the Company worked from a small hoggin pit at Bergh Apton which has since closed and been restored. More recently the Company is currently working Sand and Gravel from a Quarry at Mundham, processessing and selling mineral dug from Mundham at a facility on the edge of Norwich at Caistor St Edmund. 3.1.6 The Company continues to be a family run business and is owned and controlled by the Managing Director, Mr Jimmy Bennett. 3.1.7 The Company takes an active role in encouraging and sponsoring local organisations and charities. 3.1.8 The Company also allows recreational activities to take place on its restored water-filled gravel pits at Earsham, including water skiing and fishing. 3.1.9 The Company has an adopted Environmental Policy which is designed, inter alia, to protect the environment, build good community relations and make best use of aggregates extracted (refer to Part V, Appendix R). October 2011 Created by Stephen M Daw Limited - 24 - .