Because Woodford is prime real estate!
As was Hatfield to a certain extent (although this was originally sold to excavate aggregate).
BAe never have, and never will have any regard to heritage. No-one at Hatfield ever thought that place would shut but it did. It's all about bottom line and you can moan all you like about loosing jobs and livelihoods, it all counts for diddly squat at the end of the day.
Whatever the (real) reasons are for the cancellation of this project, lobbying and petitions are not going to get the decision changed. This country has an alarming history of making major boo boos when it comes to our aircraft industry. Sadly, this will just be another example of it.