Various sporting groups including surf life saving clubs, the Wildfires and Pacifka rugby union teams and the Newcastle Knights will take part in the clean-up, with other contributors including Haymes Paints, Dolphin Power Cleaning, MVP Paints and Stan Painting Services and McCloy Group employees.

At least 60 volunteers are expected both days, with today's effort starting at the old Newcastle Post Office on Hunter Street before groups move to various sites around the city.

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Mr McCloy said he had told City of Newcastle chief executive Jeremy Bath yesterday about the plan.

"If he can look after the council-owned properties we'll do the privately owned ones," Mr McCloy said.

Mr McCloy was Newcastle lord mayor from September 2012 to August 2014 when he resigned at the height of an ICAC investigation into electoral funding.

As lord mayor, he said he was determined to improve the look of the city and of council-owned buildings including surf clubs and embarked on a similar working bee to today's back in 2012.

As lord mayor he also supported the Hit The Bricks street art festival founded by Newcastle artist Sally Bourke.

Hit The Bricks promoted the role of street art in "adding life" to blank building walls, and was responsible for bringing high profile artists include Melbourne-based Adnate, who painted a number of hyper-realist portraits in town including a young Aboriginal boy still featured on a wall near the Wickham Interchange.

Mr McCloy said yesterday that he had regularly approached the council through Mr Bath to have council teams remove existing graffiti by either removing it where possible or painting over it.

He said that after waiting for months for something to happen, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Responding, Mr Bath referred to a program begun in November, in which commercial and residential property owners can apply to the council to have graffiti removed by juvenile offenders as part of a partnership between the council and Youth Justice NSW.

Mr Bath said ratepayers could ring the council on 49 74 2000 or fill out an online form - available here.

The council then contacted the business owner to secure permission for young offenders to remove the graffiti, under supervision.

He acknowledged that the NSW Graffiti Control Act 2008 gave local government the ability to remove graffiti from private property without the building owner's permission, but said the legislation said the council had to cover the cost, which meant "ratepayers are subsidising the cost of maintaining a private property".

Mr McCloy said that not all graffiti was on private property.

He said it was obvious from personal experience and looking internationally that the only way to stay on top of graffiti was to remove it as soon as it appeared.

He said leaving graffiti on buildings or public spaces only encouraged more, and contributed to feelings of public apathy about the look of the city.

He offered a $1000 reward last year for information in pursuit of someone who tagged the McCloy Group office building on the corner of Hunter Street and Darby Street.

Video surveillance footage was released as part of that effort, which he said yesterday was unsuccessful.

The Graffiti Control Act 2008 can be read here. Part 4 deals with graffiti removal by councils.

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