I would imagine that the request for the TRA would have come from Colt/Anglia radar. I very much doubt it came from some faceless bureaucrat with a hidden agenda.
It makes perfect sense to me - trying to separate fast jet traffic recovering to Coltishal and slow moving helicopter traffic must be hard at the best of times. The near miss earlier this year between a helicopter and tornado would have made a clearer case for a TRA. It was in good VFR and it was close, very close. The discussion on whether fast jet pilots can really maintain a good lookout was discussed on the Rotorhead forum. But it seems that to give them an extra pair of eyes on a radar panel is a good idea. If that radar is operating below par, then safe guards need to be put in place.