I looked at the Shoot gardening site for you and have copied a Q & A from it that I hope will help. Bear in mind that leylandii also get huge but stay in bounds when clipped regularly - If the top growth is restricted so will the root growth be. Unclipped the projected height after 20 years is 15m and the width 4m.

Copied from site:
I have planted some goldcrest conifers to make a hedge but they are fairly close to the house. Will the roots do any damage to the building? Is there a minimum distance that they should be planted away from the building?

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Replies: 1
Posted: Tue. 10th July 2012 20:23

Re: Goldcrest conifer roots/building damage

Reply from Kathy C

Hi, Stuart,
It is likely. They are vigorous growers. Rule of thumb is a minimum of 5 meters away from the foundation of any structure for trees, etc.
Kathy C

Is this Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest'? In which case you might want to read the RHS info http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=602

Not necessarily the idea conifer hedge but so long as you keep them properly cut then shouldn't be a problem.

I had a small Gold crest that I bought when I moved into my bungalow in 1994, when I had it cut down about 5 yrs ago it could be seen over the roof from the front of the bungalow.. it was pretty wide and cut out the light from my plants especially on my rockery and most of my plants died ! I don't know if it was the same as the ones you have.

They do not have strong roots and are good for hedging as can be cut and trimmed. They suffer from wind burn in exposed sites and when that starts the whole tree seems to slowly die back.

I had to take mine down last year because the wind blew it sideways, it came out really easily and had a very shallow root spread. I loved it because of its shape which could be trimmed easily and any dead bits just snipped off.

Mine was the one that Moongrow mentioned ( I found the label in the garden this afternoon ) I still have about a foot of the trunk in my garden measuring about 14ins across and there is no way I could get it out.

Many thanks to everyone. very helpful. my first time on this and i'm new to gardening but starting to love it just need more knowledge/guidance. As for my Golden Crest Conifer hedge I really do need to remove a few but I have a spot in mind in the back garden for them.
Thanks Again