THERE’S a fairly interesting debate taking place about plans by the Government to relax the rules on converting barns into homes.

The proposal, as it stands, would allow barns to be converted without planning permission. There are about 6,000 barns in the Yorkshire Dales, many of which are in the middle of fields.

The Government reckons the policy would help the rural economy and provide homes for local people.

Critics say it could ruin the Dales landscape, creating semi-urban sprawl in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Farmers are in favour, environmentalists are against.

If it does become law, it sounds like the policy will make some landowners trailer-loads of cash.

Never mind farmers converting a barn for the kids or old folks to live in. Get them sold off to rich townsfolk who can convert them into stunning second homes, I say.

Just imagine living in one of those barns you see in photographs of Upper Swaledale. It would be like living inside a piece of art.

OK, it would cost a few quid to get electricity down to your barn in the middle of a field, and high-speed broadband is probably out of the question, but a quick scan on the internet suggests decent- sized barn conversions fetch £400,000 or £500,000 if you do them up nice.

There's even one for a cool £1m. You can buy a lot of Nora wellies with that kind of cash.

There's been a lot of coverage about the barns issues, but one angle that appears to have been overlooked so far is the case of Django the Dales Cowboy.

Nobody ever takes notice of Hungarian political refugees named after jazz musicians who arrive on horseback, I find.

A few years ago Django fought tooth and nail, literally in one infamous incident, to allow his Angram barn to become a house.

The national park was ultimately victorious after a length legal battle, but could it be that Django, who is apparently still kicking about up in the hills, has the last laugh?