Marsh Road will be closed for five hours on June 9 to allow volunteers and members of Port Stephens conservation group Sea Shelter to safely clear rubbish from the mangroves that line the picturesque road.

“It’s been a year in the making with approvals and hoops to jump through,” Sea Shelter founder Lia Pereira.  “We’ve finally been given the go ahead.”

Saturday’s event will be Sea Shelter’s second large scale clean up, coming after volunteers pulled close to 3000 pieces of plastic from the break wall at Nelson Bay and the marina in December.

A 3.5km section of Marsh Road will be closed to west-bound traffic and the speed limit dropped to 10km/h between 10am and 3pm on Saturday.

The affected section of road will be between the Salt Ash end of Marsh Road and the Cookabarra Restaurant and Function Centre.

“Sea Shelter has fund-raised to pay for a partial closure of the road, as it is very unsafe to clean by the roadside,” Mrs Pereira said.

“This procedure is very expensive and we need all the help we can get to make it worthwhile. We hope to get as many helpers as possible to assist in the removal of the plastic pollution and clean-up of the habitat.”

Port Stephens business are getting involved by providing incentives for people to assist.

Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters, of which Mrs Pereira and husband Ryan Pereira own, is giving away half price vouchers to all helpers, valid to use during the long weekend.

A free coffee station will be set up at Cookabarra Restaurant.

Go-Karts-Go at Bobs Farm and the Kookaburra Farm Stay are giving away family vouchers in a lucky door prize.

“The best prize of all is knowing you played a part in doing something amazing for the ocean this World Oceans Day,” Mrs Pereira said.

Anyone interested in assisting the clean-up on Saturday are asked to wear gumboots or old protective shoes, to dress for the weather and to take along any gloves or rubbish removal aids such as scoops or grabbers.