A picturesque stretch of the Kent coast home to families and popular businesses will be surrendered to rising sea levels as part of a policy branded "cavalier and callous" by residents.

Official documents show a length of the shoreline at Seasalter, near Whitstable - between the Michelin-starred Sportsman pub and the Oyster Bay restaurant - will be left to flood when maintenance of the current sea defences ends in 2055.

Authorities admit the approach would involve the "loss of built assets" - which could include about 100 homes and businesses - as the coastal area is slowly swallowed by the tides.

But residents living along the 1.4-mile stretch, which traces Faversham Road, feel not enough public consultation has taken place about the plan, which is led by the Environment Agency (EA) and Canterbury City Council.

Hattie Edmonds has been a part-time resident of Seasalter for 18 years.

Her coastal home in Faversham Road is among those that would be at risk under the current plans.

“For many people it’s their permanent home," said the 58-year-old writer.

"I feel it is very cavalier and callous to make such policies about people’s homes without any indication about what we can do about it.

“The prospect of allowing the houses to all flood, without properly consulting with the whole community here, to collaborate on a possible solution, seems defeatist - and very sad.

“Solution-finding is best done with more people rather than in a quiet council room behind the scenes."

Some residents feel it would be better to continue to maintain the sea wall defences through 2055.

Ken Bowman has owned a bungalow in the area set to be flooded since the 1980s.

“This is not a wise policy," said the 87-year-old.

“The assets which will be lost as a result include several thriving businesses, a lot of permanent homes, and also a lot of holiday homes and caravans. This will all be lost."

The long-term strategy for the area is ‘managed realignment’ - abandoning the current sea wall and retreating inland to a defence line that is yet to be precisely defined.

Mr Bowman, a retired civil and structural engineer, said: "I have asked the Environment Agency what is their plan for this process.

"They say they have not got one and they do not intend to create one because there is plenty of time between now and 2055.

“This is a dereliction of the duty they owe to us because how can you have a policy with certainty if you haven’t got a plan?”

But other Seasalter residents disagree.

Phil Harris, owner of the award-winning Sportsman restaurant in Faversham Road, believes it is foolish to try to prevent the inevitable effects of sea-level rise.

“It’s the sea. To spend millions and millions of pounds protecting, what, 100 properties? It’s just not realistic and I don’t see how it can be done,” said the 62-year-old, who lives in Seasalter.

“Whatever you do it’s not going to last. You add two feet to the sea wall, 20 years later you add another two feet, and what do you end up with? I don’t think it’s practical to defend it."

Another interested party in the matter is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB),which has just this year completed a £1.9 million project in the area.

The Society created a nature reserve to enhance and protect Seasalter levels, which are a freshwater grazing marsh.

The site is internationally recognised for its importance in providing habitats to wildfowl and wading birds.

Alan Johnson, the RSPB's conservation manager for the south east, says maintaining the Seasalter site is vital.

“We are lobbying the Environment Agency […] that the freshwater sites that will be viable in the long-term, should be preferentially treated and they should be the last to be allowed to flood," he said.

“There aren’t many that will be viable in the long-term, but Seasalter would be one of them.

“We’ve got a very positive and active dialogue with the Environment Agency, and it’s not their policy to ring-fence fresh-water sites at the moment, but they do understand this stuff and they’ve always been very good about it and very responsive.

"Although the realignment policy is in black and white in the shoreline management plan in the long term, the reality is that there will be a discussion to be had about that when we get to that point. And by then, I think we’ll know how viable Seasalter is as a wetland."

The policy is laid out in the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), published in 2010 on behalf of Canterbury City Council.

It admits the policy “would involve the loss of built assets; nominally residential properties, local industries (tourism), agricultural land and freshwater habitats.”

Adding however, “managed realignment would avoid the need for such [flood] defences, possibly creating cost savings”.

Both the city council and the EA claim the other is primarily responsible for the policy.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Canterbury City Council is lead authority to manage and develop the shoreline management plan from Isle of Grain to South Foreland, which includes Seasalter. The plan has been subject to wide public consultation.

“Local authorities lead on planning for and managing coastal erosion as they are best placed to understand their own coastline and planning requirements.

“The Environment Agency supports councils like Canterbury City to update and strengthen shoreline management plans to ensure they are transparent and the right approach to manage risk."

However, Liam Woolworton, head of engineering for the city council, insists: "The Environment Agency is responsible for the coastal defences on this stretch of coastline.

"The SMP was developed taking account of technical, environmental, social and economic factors, although it was recognised that they would require occasional review and be flexible enough to adapt to new information and changes in legislation, politics and social attitudes.

"A review of the policy is in progress to account for what has changed since the SMP was approved and how that might be accounted for in SMPs going forward."