Wellington, March 5 NZPA - City walkways and rural cycleways, native tree planting projects, technology for rural colleges, an aquatic centre project, a World Night Heritage bid, and a youth development programme are among South Island community projects to benefit from Telecom's cellphone woes.

The projects will share in a donation of $250,000 by Telecom as part of a compensation package for those most affected by the XT network outage in January.

The full list of projects to benefit from the donation was announced today after extensive consultation with community leaders in 12 districts.

"Telecom's role in these local communities is already a significant one, as an employer, investor in telecommunications infrastructure, and as a purchaser of goods and services," said Telecom Retail chief executive Alan Gourdie.

"In making our decisions about the community donation, Telecom has remained focused on its local commitments."

The projects that Telecom will support include:

? $35,000 to assist the extension of Invercargill's city walking and cycle track, and $8000 toward the development of a walking and cycling track around Lake Wainono in the Waimate District

? $75,000 to fund native tree planting in Dunedin and neighbouring rural communities in conjunction with Dunedin City Council's "Let's Grow Native" campaign

? $35,000 toward the Caroline Bay Aquatic Centre project in Timaru

? $30,000 to assist the six rural colleges in Southland district to purchase technology equipment for their classrooms

? $35,000 to assist Queenstown Lakes District Council develop permanent equipment for the many events organised across the district

? $5000 to support Clutha District Council's youth development workshops bringing together 100 young people from across the district

? $7000 to support upgrades to the Fairlie and Twizel medical centres, and the bid for Night World Heritage Status for the skies above Mt St John near Lake Tekapo.

Further projects totalling $20,000 are being finalised with Gore, Central Otago, Waitaki, and Ashburton district councils.

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