I agree.

I think the closure is intended to be permanent. I quote from the single-page leaflet handed to visitors:

"The GRO indexes available at each of the above locations [Greater Manchester CRO, Birmingham Central Library, Bridgend Reference and Information Library, Plymouth Central Library, The National Archives at Kew] include Births, Deaths and Marriages from 1837-2006, Overseas from 1761-2006, Civil Partnerships from 2005-2007, Adoptions from 1927-2007 and provisional indexes for Births and Deaths for 2007. Each of these centres will receive the GRO indexes for more modern events as and when they become available and these arrangement will continue until GRO is able to offer free access to its indexes via the Internet."