Just a few kilometres north of Palmerston North sits Stoney Creek, home to rural and civil construction infrastructure specialists Blackley Construction. As trenching specialists, the name is very well known in the district. In 2025, the company is celebrating 65 years of operation, and over that time, it has completed thousands of projects, projects which have directly supported growth in the region. “We’ve worked in cities, towns and across varied rural landscapes,” says Kevin Blackley, son of company founders Graeme and Janice Blackley.
Until recently, Graeme was working as a trainer and assessor in the industry and was very active for many years in the New Zealand Contractors Federation (now Civil Construction New Zealand), where he served time as President. “Mum and Dad were based in Carterton and were predominantly doing farm work in that area. Around 1964, they were encouraged to move to the Manawatu as the then Department of Agriculture was looking for contractors to undertake work it had designed and recommended to landowners. The first job Graeme did was down Raukawa Road on land currently occupied by Raukawa Aggregates Limited. In a different way with a partner, Blackley Construction remains involved with this piece of dirt,” Kevin says.
As farm work can be very seasonal, there was a growing need to keep the team busy when it was too wet for farm work. Around the same time, Palmerston North was one of the first cities to start installing underground power, and trenching was an integral part of this. The company expanded from “green fields” to include civil works. Kevin joined the family business in 1982 as a qualified fitter/turner. He says he was drawn to joining the company by the opportunity to operate the machinery out in the open. “Having the engineering background meant I was pretty handy at fixing and maintaining gear, so it was a good fit.”
“Our people matter to us. Whatever you do is important and part of any job we do. My aim is that anyone who works here leaves with more skills, knowledge and experience than they came with.”
The Stoney Creek Road yard continues to be the perfect location to service rural and urban-based clients across the greater Manawatu, Central Hawkes’ Bay and Wairarapa regions. “We’ve been as far south as Invercargill and as far north as Raglan undertaking specialist projects, so there’s always plenty of variety for our highly skilled team.” As rural and civil construction infrastructure specialists, Blackley Construction provides a range of services. Although they are renowned for their trenching expertise, they have undertaken wind farm cable laying in nine different locations. They are mainly involved in civil pipe laying, land drainage, stock water, irrigation and other farm work. “We like nothing more than a challenging site where we can bring our problem-solving and innovation to the fore.”
Taking a “ride” with Kevin or Graeme around the greater Manawatu is a unique experience. You will get an encyclopaedic commentary of ground conditions. This provides an intriguing insight into incredible expertise and knowledge accumulated in the 65 years of operation. Asked whether he aspires to grow the company to the next level, Kevin says he’s quite happy with its current size, with approximately 30 staff. “That’s enough to manage and ensure everyone’s got a good amount of work and has all they need to do the job well. We’ve got good operators at different levels looking after their patch and very good Human Resource and Health and Safety systems.”
Kevin says his Mum was always of the opinion that the most important thing to take care of was the staff. “She was always saying you have to work on your team and upskill your team to get the very best from them. I must admit I quite enjoy upskilling our people and giving them opportunities to grow through experience and apprenticeships. Our people matter to us. Whatever you do is important and part of any job we do. My aim is that anyone who works here leaves with more skills, knowledge and experience than they came with. I think everyone knows everyone by name, whatever they do for us.”
Over time, three generations of family members have been involved in the business. Currently, brother Alan does an excellent job in workshop administration, “keeping things tidy” on the plant side of things. “We have a wide range of staff. Some staff have left and come back more than once. I have one New Zealander who has been with us 35 years and has worn out four diggers!”
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