rshdunlop, you miss the point.
They actively removed the crossing point, (with the pedestrian island) a little further along by Hindley's Place.

So now someone coming from the station wanting to catch a bus outside the foresters has to walk past the dangerous car park exit, cross by Church Vale, then walk back up PV again.

Or anyone wanting to take the short cut before Church Vale has been inconvenienced and is therefore also looking to cross the road earlier. That is a good percentage of people coming down PV.

If they did this on the other side of the station - closed the crossing outside WHSmiths, and forced pedestrians to walk to the Dartmouth Rd crossing to access London Rd, there would be such an uproar, even the FH Society/Motor club might be reluctantly forced object. Maybe.