Neither is native and support much wildlife. I love trees but front gardens, unless you have an unusually large one, are unsuitable for any tree.

I would go back saying that and if the persist then Amelanchier lamarckii is a good all round front garden tree.

What is their definition of 'tree'? Prunus x cistena is a small flowering cherry tree with purple foliage which only gets to five feet.

How can anyone in their right mind suggest planting a Redwood in a small front garden? Obviously someone with no knowledge of horticulture! My sister planted a Monkey Puzzle tree in her front garden when it was three feet high. That was about 15 years ago and now it is 15 feet high. My advice is to do your research before re-planting as to eventual height, light requirements, soil etc etc. A very useful site on the internet is Crocus, and they will give very good information about the trees they sell. They will even give personal advice if you tell them exactly what you are after. You do not have to buy the tree from them. Good luck.

Hawthorn is also a good tree; slow(ish) growing and good for wild-life. And doesn't get too big.

If you wanted to embarrass the council, I'm sure the local paper would love the story of their suggestion of planting a 100 feet tall tree in a small front garden.
On a more serious side, contact your local ward councillor and try to work out a compromise with him/her. They will then fight your corner with the jobsworth who is suggesting the Dawn Redwood.

Dawn redwood is a beautiful tree going under the wonderful name of Metasequoia glyptostroboides.....
Wikipedia reccon 200foot at least and fast growing....

someone in the council must be having a laugh......

I'd ask for it in writing and also a written promise to insure the house fully so that when the roots upturn it they build you a new one!....crazy , they must be!!

I'm surprised at this - are you in a conservation area? That is the only reason why the council would be interested in the removal of your monkey puzzle and then it would be a matter for the planning department who (for all their faults up and down the country) don't generally specify non-native (or at least naturalised) species.

How big is your front garden (length and width)? Metasequoia glyptostroboides is columnar in habit, up to 8 metres in width, with a height of (eventually) more than 12 metres, so I'm intrigued as to the size of the area they expect you to plant it in. Its usually recommended only as a tree for parks or large gardens.

I wouldn't want to recommend anything without knowing the size of your garden.

Mind Fire Crests do love them!

Botanic,
I take issue with your statement that no tree is suitable for a front garden - unless it is a large one. May I ask why?

I agree with Botanic actually - unless its a large front garden, or you use a dwarf, narrow tree, most front gardens just aren't big enough. A lot in London are no more than 8 feet long by 4 feet deep, also in other cities. On the other hand, here in the communal gardens, there's 250 feet by 50 feet of lawn with 3 medium to large trees in it - now that's a large front garden, plenty of space for trees.

Just interested to know how the council knew you wanted to remove the monkey puzzle (sounds a great idea to me, I would remove all of them). If you had just cut it down they couldn't make you put it back. Knowing the size of your garden would be a great help in knowing the best things to suggest for you. You can add this info as a comment under the replies.

Councils are stupid !! Last year ours mowed away a nice clump of wild orchids. When I complained about it, they said it was cheaper to give the verge a straight cut, than to go around the orchids.

In a previous house, I had a Prunus autumnalis in the front garden. It gets little pink flowers from November until April ... very pretty :)

Hywel, just consider how many miles of grass verge the council has to cut. Rather than expect them to mow around individual flowers or clumps of flowers - which adds to the time and, therefore, the cost (and I'll bet you don't want your council tax to increase) you might suggest to them that they don't mow that verge until after the bulbs have died back - but, if they agree, don't complain that they never cut the verge.

We have a littleMillenium park in thevillage and they do avoid the daffodils....maybe the orchids need markers to show where the are and to be avoided,

Urbanite, there is no point suggesting anything to this council. They don't listen.
I never complain about the verges not being cut, and I think it's stupid to mow away wild orchids.

Pam, the orchids didn't need markers. They stood out and everyone could see them.

Many councils employ outside contractors to cut the grass, etc. Given that Council departments often don't talk to each other, talking to an outside contractor and getting the message to the men who cut the grass to leave the orchids would take longer than flying to Mars and back again, even if the message did get through.

The contractors always mow around the large areas
of Daffodils at the bottom of this road.
So that the men can pick them to take home to their
wives to get in the good books.